Lisbon, March 20, 2025 (Lusa) - More than 4,000 incidents related to bad weather were recorded in mainland Portugal between midnight and 7am on Thursday, most of them involving falling trees and structures, according to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC).
Portugal is in the grip of depression Martinho, which has forced warnings of strong wind, rain and rough seas.
"We have an accumulated tally from midnight on the 19th to 7am on the 20th of 4,214 incidents, including 2,314 tree falls, 1,169 structure falls, 643 road clearances, 45 land subsidence events and 38 floods," José Miranda, from the ANEPC, told Lusa news agency.
According to José Miranda, the most affected regions were the Greater Lisbon Sub-Region with 1,452 incidents, the Setúbal Peninsula with 456 and the Western Sub-Region with 329.
José Miranda also indicated that 14,560 operatives were mobilised, with the support of 4,901 ground resources.
"Due to a tree falling on an overhead line, the Cascais railway line is closed to traffic. There was also damage to the roof of a house which caused 13 people to become homeless in Lourinhã, 10 of whom were taken to the Youth Hostel and three to relatives' homes".
According to ANEPC, the 25 de Abril Bridge and the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon have speed limits.
"The 25 de Abril Bridge has a maximum speed of 60 kilometres per hour and the Vasco da Gama Bridge 80. We advise against heavy goods vehicles and motorbikes travelling on these bridges," he said.
Train traffic on the 25 April Bridge, which had been suspended between Coina station and Roma-Areeiro, resumed at 7.25am, but with "significant delays", the operator, Fertagus, said.
In a statement posted on social media, the company responsible for the River Tagus railway crossing said that traffic was suspended due to weather conditions and problems with an overhead line and, at 6am, it was only running between Coina and Setúbal stations, but with delays.
At 7.30 a.m. today, the electricity network of 82,000 E-Redes customers was experiencing major constraints, with the districts of Leiria, Coimbra and Viana do Castelo being the most affected, the EDP group company said.
"Around 10pm last night, the effects of Storm Martinho began to cause major constraints on the electricity grid, especially in the south central area, progressively moving northwards throughout the early hours of the 20th," said E-Redes in a response to the Lusa news agency.
According to the company, the worst situation occurred at 1am, when 185,000 customers had their power supply disrupted.
"At this time [8am] we have a more stabilised network, compared to the night, but we still can't predict when full restoration will take place, which we will monitor and report on throughout the day," E-Redes said.
On Wednesday, the company said it had activated its Operational Crisis Action Plan, with the entire operational team dedicated to the state of alert in force, in close liaison with civil protection and other authorities.
E-Redes also said that 800 operatives are mobilised on the ground.
DD/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
