Fifteen of Portugal's ports are closed to shipping due to strong seas, according to information on the Portuguese Navy’s website whichreports that in the Algarve - Lagos, Alvor and Portimão are now closed to all navigation.
Decreasing bad weather has led the Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere to post an orange warning along the west coats and also the Faro region as the strong waves will gradually decrease from this afternoon. "The situation should normalise on Wednesday," according to meteorologist Maria João Frada from the Institute.
"The situation remains serious, but we have seen a decrease in wave height. On the west coast we have waves with heights between 5.5 and 6.5 metres which means we are off red warning and on to orange," she explained, predicting the wave height will gradually decline to 4.5 to 5.5 metres and from Wednesday afternoon they should be back to 3 to 4 metres.
Some beaches along the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vincentian today were cleared of debris thrown onto land by the bad weather. Cafes, beach bars and decking were destroyed or badly damaged at a cost of thousands of euros.
At Tonel beach near Fortaleza de Sagres the beach bar is now missing with the foundations and ice cream freezers the only reminder of the pre-storm structure.
At Martinhal beach there was damage to walkways and there was flooding at Baleeira.
There was also damage in various establishments at the Portimão marina and Carvoeiro's residents saw waves running into the square damaging and flooding nearby restaurants.
Many small beaches in the Lagoa council area saw their beach bars damaged as the largest waves for decades battered the shoreline.
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To see a video of a surge at Monte Clerigo, click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BszEo70_TVE
(Picture:Correio da Manha)
