Since Wednesday night, depression Cláudia has battered mainland Portugal and Madeira with heavy rain and strong winds. Streets flooded quickly, power outages spread, and travel plans were disrupted. The weather service, IPMA, put districts like Setúbal and Santarém on red alert for dangerous rainfall. Much of the country faced orange and yellow warnings as well, due to the rain, powerful winds, and rough seas.
Severe flooding due to heavy rainfall in Montijo, in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal 🇵🇹 (13.11.2025) pic.twitter.com/g3UzYQ9fNH
— Disaster News (@Top_Disaster) November 13, 2025
From midnight to 8 a.m., emergency services were overwhelmed. ANEPC recorded 415 incidents—most of them floods in the Lisbon area, the Setúbal Peninsula, Leiria, Coimbra, and the western region. Lisbon and Vale do Tejo alone saw 300 calls, including 307 floods and 48 reports of fallen trees. By 10 a.m., towns like Torres Vedras and Nazaré in the Oeste subregion reported 42 more incidents, mainly additional flooding.
Lezíria do Tejo registered 55 emergencies, with 43 floods and a landslide that blocked the EN114-3 in Salvaterra de Magos. Two cars had to be rescued from flooded roads. Power failures hit hard as well—Santarém was among the worst affected, with E-REDES reporting 20,000 customers without electricity early in the morning. By afternoon, that figure dropped to 7,000, but Setúbal still had nearly 8,000 people without power at the storm’s peak.
In Lisbon, firefighters responded to 26 emergencies between midnight and 7 a.m. Nineteen were floods, along with three fallen trees and some minor building damage. Just before 5 a.m., a tree crashed onto two cars on Rua Nova do Calhariz in Ajuda, but no one was injured. The Second Circular, one of Lisbon’s main roads, had to close temporarily near the airport due to flooding.
Montijo authorities closed all public schools—including the Professional School and Conservatory of Arts—for safety reasons. Train service between Entroncamento and Santarém was suspended for hours after a signal problem. When trains resumed, they ran slowly and delays accumulated.
From Wednesday afternoon to Thursday early afternoon, Civil Protection handled 1,292 incidents across the country. That included 215 fallen trees, 75 landslides, and 257 cases of building damage or collapse. Sadly, two people died in Fernão Ferro, Seixal, when floodwater filled their home, and ten more had to leave their houses.
Madeira was affected too. Regional authorities reported 32 incidents between Wednesday night and Thursday morning—19 were trees knocked down by wind, and several roads in Funchal, Santa Cruz, and Ribeira Brava were closed. High winds and waves up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) also forced the closure of mountain and coastal routes.
Fourteen coastal bars, including Douro, Esposende, Faro, and Tavira, were closed to boat traffic, while others faced restrictions. With Cláudia still moving east, the bad weather isn’t over yet. Every district in mainland Portugal and Madeira remains under alert for rain, wind, or rough seas. Authorities continue to urge people to stay inside, avoid flood zones, and follow safety instructions.
Meteorologists report that Cláudia developed after a deep Atlantic depression rapidly intensified off the Iberian coast. This system drew in warm, moist air, causing the atmosphere to become quite unstable. Within just a few hours, more than 2 inches (50 millimeters) of rain fell in some central and coastal areas—enough to overwhelm drains and flood low-lying neighborhoods. Forecasts indicate that showers and strong winds will persist through Friday, but after that, the system is expected to weaken as it moves east.
