Madar (International) - More than 300 flights in and out of Portugal were cancelled on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, and schools and businesses closed nationwide before Atlantic Storm Charles hit the mainland, but the heavy rain and intense winds passed without causing severe damage, Al Jazeera English reported, citing AP.
Operations were shut at four international airports, along with hundreds of supermarkets and all non-essential public services, and about 8,000 schools cancelled classes for the first time in living memory, after the government told people to stay at home.
The national weather agency, IPMA, recorded gusts of more than 120 km/h in some areas. Some streets in Lisbon flooded because of clogged drains, and the Web Summit technology conference, attended by about 70,000 people, called off the day's events.
By mid-afternoon, only the southern Algarve region remained on red alert, the highest warning level, which had initially covered more than half of the country. The storm struck the Portuguese island of Madeira, off northwest Africa, on Tuesday with 130 km/h winds.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro chaired a crisis unit with eight ministers. Interior Minister Luis Neves dismissed suggestions that authorities had overreacted, saying the response followed the weather forecast. The government had faced harsh criticism over its handling of Storm Kristin in January. Storm Charles was forecast to head later into Spain, according to the same source.