Six roads in Setúbal, Portalegre and Guarda with conditioned circulation

Shere are national roads in the districts of Setúbal, Portalegre and Guarda were today, by 13:00, with the road traffic conditioned in “several sections” due to adverse weather conditions as a result of the depression Charles, said the Infrastructures of Portugal (IP).

At one point at 13:00, public enterprise IP revealed that there are road traffic conditions on three national roads (EN) in the district of Setúbal, namely EN378, between the kilometres (km) 5.454 and 9,200; in EN10-1, between the km 0 and the km 0,100, in Corroios, the municipality of Seixal; and in EN378, between the km 25,130 and the km 25,250, in the access to the Port of Pesca de Sesimbra.

In the district of Guarda, according to IP, there are two ENs with conditionings, the EN338, between the km 21,000 and km 46,000, in Seia, and the EN338-1, between the km 0 and the km 0.800, Manteigas-Guarda.

Another of the roads affected by bad weather is the EN246-1, between the km 9,360 and the km 10,515, in Marvão, in the district of Portalegre, the company said.

According to IP, “Adverse weather conditions are causing road traffic conditioning in several sections of the national network”, with occurrences requiring ground interventions to ensure safety and restore traffic conditions.

Regarding EN378, in Setúbal, the company indicated that the section conditioned to circulation, specifically in access to the Sesimbra Fishing Port, is “a place where flood situations are recurrent” and, therefore, IP has installed a sensor system that allows timely alerts to be issued in case of flooding.

On this road, the start of an enterprise is also planned, “with a global investment of about 15 million euros, which, in conjunction with the regulation of the affluent water lines, will contribute to solving this problem,” said IP, stating that the project is developed in close collaboration with the municipality.

As for the impact of depression Charles on the national road network, the company stressed that IP teams are on the ground to monitor occurrences and to carry out the necessary work to restore the conditions of safety and movement as soon as possible, indicating that it will update the information on conditioning “where appropriate”.

Continental Portugal is now on alert until 11:59 p.m. due to the depression Charles, which caused about 200 occurrences of Madeira last night, mainly floods, falls from trees and collapses.

The government decided to close non-essential schools and public services in all districts, recommending people to limit travel and, if possible, to telework.

Until 11:00 today, more than three hundred flights have been cancelled in Lisbon, Faro, Madeira and Porto.

According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), which issued several red warnings due to rain and wind, depression changed its characteristics and on its way to the continent, this morning, there is a reduction in the intensity of wind and gusts. There's still a lot of rain ahead.

During the night the Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula were the most affected areas, especially with floods, but the Faro district is the only one that keeps red warnings for both rain and wind.