Bad Weather Madeira

The rain certainly came down and never stopped. It has rain all day, and pretty heavy at times, low cloud also in some parts causing visibility problems.

The alert for the south of the Island was raised to orange from 5pm-9pm, and as i write this at 01.15 the rain is still falling.

Rivers are pretty full, lots of flooding and landslides have already started cause some roads to be blocked or closed. Lots of the usual problems at the airport also with flights being diverted to Porto Santo, and water falling in the main Airport Building...

26 flights have been affected with 16 being cancelled, the other 10  flights 5 were diverted to other airports, including the last flight from Lisbon, which tried to land 3 times before giving up and returning to Lisbon.

A wall collapsed at Quinta Magnolia.

Margarida Rodrigues‎

These photos are from the Tunnel da Camacha

                                                                                     Claudio Fernandes‎

Also many drain covers lifted with the sheer volume of water, and the roads are in a bit of a mess all over with more pot holes than you can imagine to try and avoid.... Power cuts this evening in Caniço de Baixo, the power has been off and on a few times, but seems to be stable now. 

The good news is that from today (Friday), the weather looks like it will settle down for a while with some good dry weather. 

Bad Weather, Airport Closed

Your Most Updated News Blog For Madeira.....

The Island has some pretty bad weather today, it has rained almost all day with a yellow alert out for the North and Mountain regions, and they said there will be strong winds from 3pm.

The winds arrived bang on time, and the alert has been raised to orange in the mountain regions with gust over 120kmph, the bad weather is expected to last till tomorrow morning.

Although no alerts out for the South of the island, the rain has pretty much fallen all day, and its pretty windy out there, and the airport, it struggling, with no flights coming in or going out as I write this. Some flights have already been diverted and others have been cancelled.

I know there are a least 2 UK reporters on the Island who were expecting to go home today, they came for the Susan Brown story, but at the moment she is still in the psychiatric hospital in Funchal, and in no state to speak to anyone. 

My View Now.....

Black Friday

Translated and taken from Diario Noticias.

 This being a "Black Friday" at Madeira Airport. A few minutes ago the easyJet flight from Lisbon made an attempt and failed landing. The aircraft already follows return to the Portuguese capital.

In the accounts of this windy day at the airport influence zone, and when there are still four flights scheduled to arrive in Madeira until early in the morning, already have up 19 canceled flights (arrivals and departures) and 'only' 16 completed operations.Of canceled flights, three easyJet flights from the United Kingdom and came to take off in the direction of Funchal. Among others, most aircraft reached approaching the runway in an attempt to land, but eventually aborted.

Of the seven aircraft today managed to land on the island, the first was at 5:46 a.m. (Air Berlin) and the last aircraft of AeroVip (18h41) to enable connection to Porto Santo.

The critical period began drawing up from 9 in the morning. From then until now, beyond AeroVip the plane only other three aircraft landed in Madeira. 

Weather

Well today has all been about the weather today.

Its been cold with rain on and off, most places have seen hail stones, with Porto Santo being the best as the beach was covered in hail.

Lots of photos all over social media throughout the day today, some of the best below.

Some of you have put your name to the photo, if any person wants their name or website added to an image please let me know, as there has been so many going round today.

And these two are from Porto Santo

Todays Bad Weather.

Its been a strange day for weather today.  Warm humid very hazy, strong sea's, and the wind getting stronger during the day.

This evening the winds picked up, diverting 6 fights, 3 of which from the UK, Strong seas and high waves around the island, and heavy rain which flooded roads quickly in Funchal.

Christmas decorations have also tumbled, as well as the white fencing around the land the Savoy once stood.

We had thunder and lightning for a time also, but things look like they will settle down over night taking us back to bright sunny weather.

Photos From  Diario Noticias

More bad weather on way ?

Potential for stormy weather in the next few days, wind and rain. You should take precaution and make sure levadas and drains are clear, things are tied down or stored away and any lose branches are taken care of so they don't damage your property or cause injury.

Looking at the satellite images from Eltiempo the bad weather will be with us Thursday.

Wet and Windy

 The National Civil Protection Authority warned today for predicting rain and strong wind on Sunday, with possibility of experiencing "extreme events" related to the heavy rain and wind gusting up to 120 kilometers.

Citing the Sea Portuguese Institute and the Atmosphere (IPMA) the Civil Protection, in a statement, warned that the worsening weather takes place on Sunday and Monday and that rain will be occasionally intense, initially in the north and center and then nationwide.

The wind is blowing at a speed between 40 and 60 kilometers, but can reach 100 kms in the highlands and gusts could reach 120, warns the Civil Protection, drawing attention to the precautions when driving (floor slippery and ground water), to trees and full of falls in urban areas and flooding in vulnerable areas or underground structures.

The IPMA is also the official web site a "special information" about changing the time on election day, with a "significant increase" by the end of Monday's day.

Rain, explains the IPMA, starts right on Sunday morning (strong in the north and center) and the wind will be moderate to strong (on the coast) and strong or very strong in the highlands of northern and central.

Copied straight from the Diario Website using Google Translate.

Lets never forget.

5 years today Madeira suffered one of its worst tragedies. 

Funchal, Ribeira Brava and Serra da Agua were the places hardest hit. When I look back at my photos on Flickr it is hard to imagine this happened, and we pray it never happens again. 

You can see my album on FLICKR

Also an Album of images from friends and from the internet on FLICKR

One of the most dramatic photos captured.

Weather Warning

Madeira will be on yellow alert tomorrow Thursday 26th September for heavy rain.

The warning 2nd on a scale of 1-4 will be from 3pm till Midnight.

The Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere says showers will affect the region with periods of heavy rain at times.  LINK

Storm 4th-5th November 2012

More bad weather hit Madeira last night, with the North Coast being hit the hardest.

Ribeira da Janela and Seixal were hit bad with landslides and roads blocked. Some properties have been damaged but no life was lost.

Madeira has had an unusual amount of heavy rain over the last couple of weeks, following almost 18 months of dry weather, so the ground is very dry, and the rain cant soak in as quick as it usually would.

I have collected a selection of photos from the internet and put them together in a set.

More Photos

Waves, Wind & Rain

Today Madeira has been on Orange alert for heavy rain, strong winds and waves of 3.5 - 4.5 metres, This bad weather is starting to clear now and the sun is coming out again. Some great photos from Facebook which I'm sharing with you below.

Photo by Carla Oliveira

Photo by Carla Oliveira

Photo by Nelio Sousa

  

Photo by Peter Askew