Windy at airport.

Strong winds are causing problems at the airport. In The last hour 3 planes have failed to land, 1 easyjet and 2 TAP, they diverted to Porto Santo.

Update 10.30..... a total of 6 planes have now been diverted to Porto Santo. Hope the wind drops so they can get to Madeira this afternoon.

Sao Joao children's parade in Porto Santo

Children's parade celebrating Sao Joao in Porto Santo.

Thank you to my good friend David for sending me the photos.

Don't forget all the other celebrations tomorrow evening, the eve of Sao Joao which is June 24th.

Canico de Baixo is a very popular place to be, hundreds go there for the celebrations, music food BBQs and then the traditional midnight swim.

I wont be there to enjoy it this year, as I am in the UK, but I hope all my friends have a great time and enjoy a few drinks for me.

Lobo Marinho in rough sea's

Despite the weather warnings of rough sea's Lobo Marinho headed out for its usual trip to Porto Santo this morning. 

It turned out to be a pretty rocky ride when they got close to port in Porto Santo, making it difficuld to dock with the ship rolling from side to side.

See The Video Here, lets hope there were enough sick bags.....

Photo Ivo Costa

Lobo Marinho suffers damage.

A difficult journey said passengers on the Lobo Marinho this morning as it made its usual trip from Funchal to Porto Santo.

The journey was very bumpy the as the ship docked at the harbour of Porto Santo it hit the hull on the pier causing some damage.

A weather warning is out for strong winds and rough seas, and the ferry does not normally travel in these conditions, so why it decided to this morning is not yet known. 

Bad weather arrives

The bad weather is arriving with strong winds, and the sea is looking very rough.

There are a lot of weather alerts in place over the coming days, the worst being from 3pm Friday through to Saturday 12am where Madeira and Porto Santo will be on red alert for high sea waves of 7-8 meters.

Below us a copy of the weather warnings from the news website.

The archipelago will be on Friday and Saturday under red warning, the most serious of four, due to sea waves and is expected waves of 7-8 meters, it was announced today.

According to the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), Madeira and Porto Santo will be under red warning between 15:00 Friday and 12:00 am Saturday due to the forecast of strong sea waves, It is expected northwest of very high waves (7 to 8 meters).

The red warning is the most serious of a range of four and is issued by IPMA there is always a weather situation of extreme risk.

According to IPMA, Madeira is already from 08:00 today to 15:00 Friday also under an orange warning because of sea waves and is expected northwest waves of 5-7 meters.

Will also be under an orange warning between 18:00 and 12:00 today Saturday foreseeing strong wind with gusts of 120 kilometers / hour order.

Madeira is still under yellow warning between 18:00 and 03:00 today Friday due to the forecast of rain sometimes strong.

Weather Update Thursday 22.30

 The bad weather being felt over much of the island is expected to get worse during the night.

The Porto Santo Ferry has been cancelled since Wednesday, and not likely to make the journey till Sunday.

5 cruise ships due in over the next couple of days have also cancelled the visit to the island.

Waves will be the main feature over the coming hours with the North West of Madeira and Porto Santo being worst affected, waves will be between 7-8 meters, but there could be some as high as 15-16 meters in these areas.

There has been no problems at the airport today, and friends of mine went to Caniçal this afternoon and there was no wind or rain at all.

The wind is causing problems over the Island though and this is likely to get worse, more and more photos and videos are appearing on social networks with FaceBook being the most popular. This tree has fallen and hit a car in Nazare Funchal.

I will continue to update over the weekend.

Weather update Friday 11.45am

Well we had a very calm night in Caniço last night and today the sun is shining and the weather very calm.

Over much of the rest of the island the wind has cause a lot of problems mainly with fallen trees. 5 roads are closed and 6 roads are partly blocked. 

The sea waves are expected to be at there highest from this afternoon, this will affect the north or Madeira and Porto Santo the most.

 

Below are a few photos going around the social networks. 

Another Red Alert.

Another red alert has been issued for the North of Madeira and Porto Santo. The red notice will run from Friday 6pm - Saturday 6am for high waves. The waves are expected to be between 12-14 metres, and precautions are all ready in place to close some coastal roads.

Porto Moniz a week ago. Taken from the Diario.

Bird Watching Madeira

Bird watching in Madeira is becoming very popular, and more and more tourists are coming to the island just for this hobby.

Bird watching can be done from land and sea, and organised trips can be booked with guides to help find and explain the different species.

This is a very useful blog to see what is being seen on the island throughout the year, you can visit the blog by clicking HERE

Also another good site is Birding Madeira,which has details of all the birds found on land and sea, and also on the Desertas Islands and Porto Santo if you get a chance to visit these.

Visit the full site HERE

Supplies reach Porto Santo

Supplies have finally reached Porto Santo today as sea conditions due to bad weather have stopped Lobo Marinho from sailing.

 A cargo plane Company "West Air Europe" carried this morning food to the island of Porto Santo, specifically for the Pingo Doce supermarket.

The aircraft, chartered by the supermarket chain to the effect, landed at about 11:40 am at the airport in Porto Santo, with waiting vehicles to transport the goods to the said premises.

This is a situation that arises because maritime links to Porto Santo have no longer been in  effect for almost a week ago due to adverse sea conditions, with consequences like shortages of some food products in the supermarket. It is noted that the shelves of the supermarket have very no yoghurt, meat and fish, and there is little fruits and vegetables.

Porto Santo Tarantula

There are two species of Tatantula endemic to Porto Santo Island, Madeira sister Island, famous for its 9km of golden sand beach.

The two species found on Porto Santo are the Hogna Biscoitoi and the Hogna Schmitzi, Pictured below.

Hogna is a genus of wolf spider, with more than 200 described species, and species are found on all continents except Antarctica.

A list of all species and their locations