High winds have battered the Portuguese island of Madeira, forcing the cancellation three flights departing from Lisbon, and another from Oporto.
The bad weather also led to the diversion of other two flights, one from Sweden that was sent to Porto Santo, and another from Germany which ended up in Lanzarote.
Madeira will continue to suffer heavy rain and strong winds, according to weather forecasters. The experts say that the conditions will worsen overnight until the storm blows out by Wednesday afternoon.
The rainfall is expected to be 20% to 30% below the February 2010 deluge which brougfht flooding and mudslides in the worst storm for at least 100 years.
Civil Protection agencies are ready to respond to any emergencies and mountainous areas of the island already have been placed on red alert, the most serious in a scale of four.
