Latest news and stories about extreme weather in Portugal for expats and residents.
2025 was the fifth hottest year in mainland Portugal since 1931. The report highlights record temperatures, the largest area ever burned, and humidity levels above the European average.
Infrastructure specialist Eloi Figueiredo says many of the damages caused by the severe weather stem from exceptional gusts that exceed the reference values used in engineering. The CNN Portugal guest emphasises that current regulations do not account for phenomena of this intensity.
In Leiria, Marinha Grande and Coimbra, residents are rolling up their sleeves in response to the damage caused by Storm Kristin's passage through the country.
This is the seventh fatality resulting from the storm.
The Business Confederation of Portugal (CIP) has proposed to the Government 'surgical' support measures for companies affected by adverse weather so they can continue their activities, the organisation said today in a statement.
PSD MEPs want to debate, at the European Parliament's February plenary session in Strasbourg, extreme weather events — including Storm Kristin in Portugal — and the EU response to reinforce preparedness and solidarity mechanisms.
The National Board of the Left Bloc meets today to analyse the political situation and discuss the consequences of extreme weather events after Storm Kristin caused deaths and severe damage in the country.
Explosive cyclogenesis. Fire tornadoes. Bomb cyclones. Mega-wildfires. Cities destroyed. Floods. People killed. The climate crisis is a war against humanity — a war with no ceasefire. Over the past few months in Portugal we have seen a succession of hellish fires and extratropical cyclones that are devastating several regions of the country, particularly the central region. It really is a war, because it was deliberately provoked and those who launched these ‘bombs’ plan to continue launching them.
Local authorities in Coimbra say they cannot rule out flooding and possible evacuations during the coming week, citing expected adverse weather and rising water levels.
The debate over whether these events are caused by natural cycles or by climate change has become pointless. It is clear that both are acting at the same time.
The storm Kristin destroyed crops and olive groves in the Centro region. Heavy rain caused rivers to burst their banks and flooded the fields. Strong winds uprooted trees.
Municipalities in the Douro, in the district of Vila Real, are reporting substantial damage after heavy rain that is causing landslides, rockfalls and wall collapses, and affecting vineyards and roads.
José Pimenta Machado, president of the Portuguese Environment Agency, says the Portuguese must prepare and adapt to this new reality we are living through because of the severe weather: “It's anomaly upon anomaly.”
The Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) says Storm Kristin may have been the most powerful storm since records began.
Storm Kristin exposed the fragility of human existence in an ill-prepared region. It showed how dependent we are on fragile infrastructure.
Climate change is making extreme weather events, such as torrential rain and heatwaves, more frequent. Experts warn the trend will continue as long as the world keeps burning fossil fuels.
João Camargo, a climate-change researcher, explains how the series of depressions that struck Portugal within a week and the intense summer wildfires are early signs that the climate is changing: “What we can expect are unexpected things that manifest both as extremely cold winters and scorching summers.”
Adriano Bordalo e Sá, a hydrobiologist, explains how the development of the depression Kristin towards Spain could affect the extent of flooding in Portugal, since “65% of our territory is covered by river basins that come from Spain”.
The municipality of Ourém is in “complete devastation” and 15 schools have been affected by bad weather, the mayor, Luís Albuquerque, told the Lusa news agency today.
Forestry engineer Carlos Trindade explains how the risk of flooding may worsen in the coming days due to soil saturation, with soils 'losing their ability to absorb any more water'.
Geographer José Rio Fernandes analyses the potential causes of extreme events like the one that affected the country in recent days, and how we should prepare for these storms.
Despite a slight improvement, a prolonged period of rain and wind will make efforts to respond to the floods more difficult, which could intensify, with saturated soils and dams overflowing.
Explanations from João Camargo, a climate change specialist
Commander Marco Martins, vice‑president of the Portuguese Firefighters' League, reports on requests for exceptional resources for the areas most affected by Storm Kristin.
The disaster caused by Storm Kristin once again exposes decades of 'known mistakes' and a lack of action, say landscape architect Aurora Carapinha and geographer Maria José Roxo.
ANEPC also reports one fatality in Vila Franca de Xira, in the Lisbon district, and another in Silves, in the Faro district.
Around one million people were left without electricity, hundreds of thousands without water or communications, and several essential services were disrupted after Storm Kristin passed. The government declared a state of calamity in the worst-affected areas, and climatologists warn that extreme events will no longer be the exception.
On Wednesday, ten weather stations in mainland Portugal recorded wind gusts exceeding 120 kilometres per hour, the strongest reaching 208.8 km/h in Degracias, in the municipality of Soure.
Within a few years, Fábio Franco, from Ortigosa in Leiria, has seen his lettuce greenhouses destroyed twice — in 2018 by Hurricane Leslie and now by Storm Kristin.
In Marinha Grande, the storm wreaked havoc across the municipality's three parishes. Homes, shops, industry and several municipal infrastructure elements were devastated by the bad weather.
