Portugal has been hit by unprecedented severe weather in recent hours, as Storm Christine the central and northern regions of the country, leaving widespread destruction and significant loss of life and property. The death toll has risen to five, while some 450,000 customers are without power due to outages, in one of the most intense storms to strike the Iberian Peninsula this season.
Storm details and human losses
The storm swept across the country, bringing record-breaking winds of 178 kilometers per hour on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, uprooting trees and damaging infrastructure across wide areas. Portugal's Civil Protection Agency confirmed on Thursday that the death toll had risen, stating that a 34-year-old man had died as a result of weather-related incidents, bringing the total number of fatalities to five.
Collapse of the electricity grid and infrastructure
Strong winds and heavy rain caused significant damage to the national electricity distribution network. Numerous power poles and high-voltage lines were downed, with the most severe damage concentrated in the Leiria region of central Portugal. According to E-Redes, the network operator, approximately 450,000 customers remain without power, and technical teams are working tirelessly to repair the complex faults amidst challenging weather conditions that are hindering access to some affected areas.
Transportation paralyzed and educational institutions closed
The repercussions were not limited to the energy sector; they also affected the country's transportation network. The state-owned railway company announced the complete or partial suspension of services on several main lines, most notably the vital line connecting the capital, Lisbon, with the northern city of Porto. As a precautionary measure, local authorities were forced to close numerous schools in the central region to protect students and staff from the risks of travel.
Climate context and the challenges of extreme weather
This storm comes amid a period of volatile weather across Europe, with the frequency of intense Atlantic storms increasing in recent years. Meteorologists point out that Portugal's location on the Atlantic coast makes it a first line of defense and particularly vulnerable to these deep low-pressure systems. The severity of Storm Christine is raising growing concerns about the impact of climate change on the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in southern Europe.
Government response and ongoing warnings
The Portuguese government described the situation as causing “serious damage” in multiple areas, while fire and rescue teams continued to respond to hundreds of reports of flooding and roofs being blown off houses. Regional official Ricardo Costa explained to the Portuguese news agency Lusa that the continued rainfall, although less intense than at the start of the storm, was exacerbating the suffering of residents whose homes had been damaged, necessitating a full mobilization of state resources to contain the crisis and restore essential services to citizens as quickly as possible.
