Storm Charles Causes Floods and Flight Cancellations Across Southern Europe

The arrival of Storm Charles has brought destructive weather conditions to the Iberian Peninsula this week, causing significant disruption across Portugal and southern Spain. The system first impacted the Portuguese island of Madeira before moving toward the mainland on 11 November. Meteorologists recorded wind gusts reaching 84.5mph at Funchal airport, while rainfall totals hit 355mm within a 12-hour window. The severe weather led to widespread travel chaos, with Lisbon reporting the cancellation of 183 flights on Wednesday, representing roughly one-third of its daily traffic. Madrid Barajas airport also faced significant operational challenges, recording 155 cancellations.

Storm Charles has triggered severe flooding and major travel disruptions across southern Europe this week.

Impact of Storm Charles in Europe

After sweeping through Spain and Portugal, the system tracked north-eastward, affecting southern France and northern Italy. In France, heavy rain caused significant flooding in parts of Cannes, triggering rock falls and forcing the closure of several roads along the French Riviera. The Italian weather service responded by issuing a red rainfall warning—the highest alert level—for areas spanning from Tuscany to Venezia. Forecast models indicate that additional heavy rainfall is likely across Italy and the Balkans, with experts predicting an accumulation of 100mm widely, and up to 200mm in mountainous regions.

Simultaneously, the northern hemisphere has seen other severe weather events. Heavy rain and strong winds have caused landslides, power outages, and flooding across British Columbia, Canada, over the past week. Between Monday and Friday, more than 400,000 customers lost power, and further unsettled conditions over the weekend left an additional 135,000 without electricity. Strong winds were recorded across the region, including gusts of 72.1mph on Herbert Island and 60mph at Victoria international airport. Flood warnings remain in effect for the south coast as high streamflow and further rain threaten to exacerbate the situation, with more torrential weather expected to hit the area over the coming weekend.

Why it matters

The successive waves of extreme weather highlight the increasing frequency of destructive storm systems impacting major infrastructure and travel hubs. These events affect thousands of travelers and residents through flight cancellations, power grid failures, and road closures, necessitating heightened emergency preparedness in affected regions.