Portugal is preparing for a second powerful storm less than a week after Storm Kristin killed six people and left widespread destruction, with authorities urging residents to stockpile supplies for at least 72 hours.
Waste management in the Algarve is at risk of collapse, local environmental association Almargem has warned, criticising the continued expansion of landfill sites in the region and calling for urgent structural reforms.
“The Algarve is now an absolute national priority,” MP for the Algarve Cristóvão Norte told Parliament, as he outlined measures aimed at correcting what he described as “decades of neglect”.
The captain of a Portuguese-flagged cargo vessel that collided with a tanker in the North Sea in March 2025, resulting in the death of one person, was on Monday found guilty of manslaughter by a British court.
President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has described as “impressive” the package of measures approved by the Government to support families and businesses battered by Storm Kristin.
The Minister for the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, is visiting Portugal’s central region this Friday, 30 January, principally the areas most affected by Storm Kristin, accompanied by the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, and the Portuguese ministers for the Environment and for Culture, Youth and Sport.
The Renature Monchique project is set to reach a cumulative total of 600,000 trees planted by the end of February in areas of the Algarve’s Monchique mountains affected by the devastating 2018 wildfires, the project’s coordinator has revealed.
The Portuguese Government has approved the declaration of a state of calamity in the areas worst affected by Storm Kristin, principally in the districts of Leiria and Coimbra. A state of calamity may be declared when, in the event or imminent risk of a serious accident and/or catastrophe, there is a recognised need to adopt exceptional measures to restore normality in the affected areas.
