Currently classified as a Tropical Storm, Leslie is expected to become a hurricane in two days time as it heads towards Madeira, or midway between the Azores and the Canary Islands, late on Thursday before heading to west-southwest Europe this coming weekend.

Potential exists for landfall in Portugal or even Ireland on Sunday. The computer modelling will become more accurate as time goes by, but Leslie is being monitored and warnings soon may need to be issued by Portugal's weather service and Civil Defence authority.

How many people live in the Algarve? The answer of 450,000 has been fixed in people’s minds for years but the current resident population has been shrinking this total, taken from 2010 figures.

Despite a healthy influx of foreigners, last year alone, the Algarve population declined by 1,852 to give an 11,687 decline in numbers compared to seven years ago.

Architecturally priceless mosaics at the Milreu Roman Ruins in Estoi are receiving specialist attention after €30,000 was made available by the Algarve’s Directorate of Culture.

The mosaics are one of the key reasons that the site, a Roman villa and farm, is one of the Algarve's most popular historical attractions and include depictions of fish, dolphins and the famous, if rather scary, squid, (see below).

A TAP flight from Lisbon was forced to abort its landing in Madeira on Sunday afternoon, thus avoiding a collision with a plane on the runway.

The Aircraft Accident Prevention and Investigation Bureau is investigating how and why the incoming aircraft’s pilot was not alerted by the control tower at Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport.

Up to 600 firefighters battled a huge fire in the Sintra area which started near the Convento da Peninha late on Saturday evening.

Locals were evacuated from five villages as wind whipped the fire into a fast-moving blaze, tearing across the countryside and destroying 600 hectares of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, a UNESCO heritage site.

A man was hit by a train on Monday morning as it passed through the Boavista area of Portimão.

The head of the Portimão Bombeiros said the driver had phoned through to report that the train had hit someone.

In a bizarre, restrictive and possibly unconstitutional new piece of legislation, the Government is to ban the unrestricted sale of private homes that had to be rebuilt after last summers fires in the Central region.

The Council of Ministers is preparing to approve a new decree-law that, retrospectively in some cases, will force owners of homes that have been rebuilt with State funds, to sign a ‘no sale for ten years’ agreement.

Portugal’s bullfighting federation has accused the People Animals Nature political party of "cultural censorship" and of "attacking Portuguese culture" by proposing the end the current VAT exemption on bullfighting services.

In a statement released today, the federation contests PAN’s action, adding that it is by no means confirmed that the VAT exemption is to be ditched on the 2019 State Budget.