Torrential rains, floods and landslides from Storm Leonardo disrupted life across parts of southern Spain and Portugal, forcing thousands to evacuate and cutting roads, rail links and services. Leonardo is the seventh named storm to hit the region this season and follows a series of deadly weather events: storms last week in Portugal killed five people and Spain’s Valencia region suffered catastrophic flash floods in October 2024 that left 237 dead.
In Spain’s Malaga province a woman was swept away by the Turvilla River while trying to rescue her dog; firefighters recovered the animal but the woman remains missing. Some areas of Andalusia recorded more than 40 centimetres of rain in a single day, roughly several months’ worth for the normally dry region. Authorities said nearly 4,000 people were evacuated and dozens of roads and rail lines were paralysed. Andalusia’s president reported that the mountain village of Grazalema received in 16 hours the same volume of rain Madrid normally sees in a year. Two reservoirs at risk of overflow were deliberately drained. Spain’s national weather agency AEMET has lifted the highest alert for the south but warned that the next front, named Marta, is expected to arrive soon.
In Portugal a man in his 70s died in the Alentejo region after his car was swept away near a dam. Officials issued the highest flood alert for the Tagus River in Santarém and evacuated residents living near the river, with civil protection describing the threat as the most serious in three decades. The Sado River burst its banks in Alcácer do Sal, south of Lisbon, flooding parts of the town to depths of around two metres. Portugal’s weather agency IPMA said January was the country’s second-wettest since 2000. Train services in the north and centre were suspended, while parks and tunnels in Lisbon were closed and river transport halted as more heavy rain was forecast.
Leonardo has also caused fatalities and large-scale evacuations in Morocco, where at least three people died and roughly 140,000 were moved from vulnerable areas. Scientists warn that human-driven climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of floods and other extreme weather across Europe, contributing to the mounting toll from recent storms.