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The Iberian peninsula has been placed under severe weather alerts as Storm Leonardo continues to batter parts of Spain and Portugal with torrential rain and strong winds.
Since Tuesday, the slow-moving system has brought widespread disruption, flooding and evacuations. In Grazalema, in southern Spain, more than 700mm of rain has fallen since Wednesday, roughly equivalent to the country’s average annual rainfall.
Across Andalucía, about 3,500 people have been evacuated, with roads and schools closed, and transport networks disrupted. Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, issued its highest red alert for heavy rainfall in Cádiz and parts of Málaga, where around 150mm was recorded in only 12 hours on Thursday.
In Málaga province, a girl has been reported missing after being swept away by the Turvilla river, with emergency services continuing search efforts.
Portugal, still recovering from Storm Kristin, which killed at least five people last week, has also been badly affected. Fresh downpours have triggered flooding, landslides and falling trees, forcing more than 200 people to evacuate. On Wednesday, another death was reported in the southern Alentejo region after a man’s car was washed away by flood waters.
The storm’s effects extend beyond Europe. In northern Morocco, flash floods caused by overflowing rivers and reservoirs have forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate, with the city of Ksar El-Kebir in the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region among the worst-affected.
The extreme rainfall is being driven by an unusually southward-shifted jet stream, allowing Leonardo to intensify and stall over the region. The storm has also merged with an “atmospheric river” carrying tropical moisture from the Caribbean, continually replenishing the rainfall. With soils already saturated and rivers swollen after weeks of wet weather, the risk of further flooding and landslides remains high, particularly in southern Spain.
Leonardo is expected to linger near the north-west of the Iberian peninsula into early next week, bringing continued unsettled conditions. Northern and central Portugal could receive an additional 150-250mm of rain by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Penha developed from an area of low pressure over the Philippine Sea late on Tuesday and tracked westwards towards Mindanao. By Thursday, the system was producing wind gusts of up to 45mph before making landfall in Surigao del Sur on Thursday.
Storm surges of up to two metres are expected across coastal areas, and warnings for heavy rainfall have been issued farther inland, with 200-300mm of rain expected within 24 hours. Sustained winds of 38-55mph are forecast, increasing the risk of damage to buildings and vegetation. After landfall, Penha is expected to weaken as it moves across northern Mindanao and Negros island, before dissipating near Palawan island.
