Storm Charles brings floods to southern Europe; 183 flights cancelled in Lisbon and 155 in Madrid

Storm Charles has brought destructive weather to the Iberian Peninsula this week, particularly in Portugal and the far south of Spain. Heavy rain and strong south-westerly winds arrived first on the Portuguese island of Madeira, before the system headed towards the mainland on 11 November.

A wind gust of 84.5mph (136 km/h) was recorded at Funchal airport, alongside rainfall totals reaching 355mm in 12 hours.

Lisbon saw 183 flights cancelled on Wednesday, around a third of its normal daily traffic, while Madrid Barajas airport had 155 cancellations.

After causing widespread flooding in Spain and Portugal, the system moved on a north-easterly track through southern France and then towards northern Italy.

This resulted in significant flooding in parts of Cannes, some of which caused rock falls and led to the closure of roads along the French Riviera.

The Italian weather service issued a red rainfall warning, its highest level, for the area extending from Tuscany to Venezia.

Further heavy rain is expected to fall in Italy and the Balkans over the next few days, with the latest forecast models indicating an additional 100mm could accumulate widely, while totals close to 200mm are likely in more mountainous areas.

Successive rounds of heavy rain and strong winds have also caused flooding, landslides and disruption across British Columbia, Canada, through the last week or so.

Between Monday and Friday last week, severe rainfall and strong winds left more than 400,000 customers without power in British Columbia. The unsettled conditions continued into the weekend, with further heavy rain leaving 135,000 customers without power, alongside downed trees, flooded roads and landslides.

Strong winds were also recorded on Sunday, with a gust of 72.1mph (116 km/h) on Herbert Island and a gust of 60mph (96 km/h) at Victoria international airport.