Navy alert for waves up to 10 meters and galgaments in the Algarve

A The Navy and the National Maritime Authority (AMN) today warned of a worsening of maritime unrest in the Algarve, especially on the south coast, with waves of six meters and possibility of coastal galgaments due to the passage of depression Charles.

In a statement, the two entities indicated that the forecast of the state of the sea indicates a degravation of the conditions initially foreseen for the west coast, particularly in the region of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, in contrast to a worsening in the Algarve region, especially on the south coast.

Sea agitation will be characterized by a ripple from the southwest quadrant to the west-southwest, with a significant height that may reach six meters and a maximum height of 10 meters, with an average period ranging from nine to 12 seconds, added.

On the southern coast of mainland Portugal there is the possibility of coastal galgaments.

According to the Navy and AMN, a progressive rotation of wind direction and ripple from southwest to west-southwest and northwest is expected, following the depression circulation associated with the worsening of weather conditions.

Despite a slight reduction in the maximum wind intensity from the initially predicted, today intense wind is still expected “especially on the southern coast of mainland Portugal, with an average intensity of up to 75 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gusts up to 135 km/h”, said.

Rainfall should sometimes be strong to very strong, with accumulated over 50 mm in six hours, especially in the Algarve region.

AMN and the Portuguese Navy advise the maritime community and the general population to be careful in preparing a trip to the sea and in the frequency of coastal areas, such as the strengthening of the mooring and tight surveillance of docked and docked vessels.

Due to the ripple, it is advisable to avoid excursions by the sea or in areas exposed to maritime agitation, such as the protection jetties of ports, cliffs or beaches.

They also advise that playful fishing should not be practised, in particular with cliffs and arriba areas frequently affected by the bursting of the waves, “keep in mind that under these conditions the sea can easily reach seemingly safe areas”.

The depression Charles, which motivated the activation of the alert situation throughout the territory of mainland Portugal from 00:00 to 23:59 today, lost power during the morning and divided into two cores of low pressure, one towards Lisbon and another near the Algarve coast, a region that is being most affected by bad weather, according to IPMA information at the beginning of the afternoon.

The government decided to close non-essential schools and public services in all districts, and more than three hundred flights were cancelled in Lisbon, Faro, Madeira and Porto.

The storm caused more than 200 occurrences of Madeira between Tuesday night and this morning, especially floods, falls of trees and collapses.

On the continent, Civil Protection accounted for more than 500 occurrences of the same gender between 00:00 and 12:00.