The Iberian Peninsula on Tuesday braced for a violent storm, with southern Spain shutting schools and Portugal placed on fresh alert after severe weather killed five people last week.
Spanish weather agency AEMET issued its highest red alert for Wednesday in the Ronda and Grazalema areas of the southern region of Andalusia, warning of Storm Leonardo’s “extraordinary danger” that could trigger floods and landslides.
Andalusia’s leader Juanma Moreno, on the front line of emergency management in Spain’s decentralised political system, pleaded for “utmost caution” and “common sense” from residents.
All Andalusian schools will be closed on Wednesday apart from in the region’s easternmost province of Almeria.
In neighbouring Portugal, weather agency IPMA put the entire coast under an orange alert on Tuesday as Leonardo closed in over the Atlantic Ocean.
Northern and central regions of the country were also under an orange alert ahead of expected heavy snowfall, with strong winds and precipitation due to continue until Saturday.
A string of storms have lashed Portugal in recent weeks. The most destructive, Kristin, killed five people and injured around 400 last week, particularly affecting the central region of Leiria.
Three other people died after falling during roof repair work, while a fourth person suffered fatal carbon monoxide poisoning from an electricity generator.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s government has approved a reconstruction plan worth 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion), with tens of thousands of homes still cut off from the power grid.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events such as storms and heatwaves longer, more frequent and more intense.
In October 2024, Spain suffered its deadliest floods in decades with more than 230 victims, mostly in the eastern region of Valencia.
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