The region woke up to a further covering of snow this morning, which has forced the closure of two roads in the municipality of Calheta. These are, Estrada Rochão, in Arco da Calheta, which provides access to Paul da Serra and Estrada do Fonte do Bispo.
Posts published in “Weather”
As forecast, it started snowing again last night. In order to maintain safety at all times, the Institute of Forestry and Nature Conservation (IFCN) has closed several roads, and these are: the forest road between Eira do Serrado and Pico do Areeiro and the road between Pico das Pedras and Achada Teixeira.
João Severino has been missing from his home in Quinta Grande since the 15th of January.
Fourteen search and rescue personal including officers from the Regional Command of Public Security Police (PSP) Madeira, the Santana Volunteer Firefighters and the Forestry Police were involved in the rescue of a 33-year-old Polish national, who was lost last night in the mountains of Madeira.
The estimated cost of the Christmas Day storm, in terms of damage, is in the region of €40.6 million.
Australian adventurer, Jackson Groves has published a new video of his experiences at Pico Ruivo, where he contemplates the sunset, under a blanket of snow that covers Madeira's highest peak.
As curfew hour drew gradually closer, many ignored the weather and safety warnings and drove up into the mountains to see the snow, while Funchal became a ghost town. https://www.facebook.com/100009450955174/videos/2908935056098164/ Samantha Gannon info at madeira-weekly.com Photo and videos courtesy of JM-Madeira
Predictions made by the Portuguese Institute of Atmosphere and Sea (IPMA), indicate that the cold weather will continue into next week, with snow falling on the island's highest peaks until early Monday morning (11th of January).
Since early yesterday morning, large numbers of people have been travelling to the island's mountains to enjoy the snow, however, due to the conditions the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation has closed several roads leading to the island's highest peaks. As such, in addition to the closure of the road that connects Poiso to Pico do Areeiro, access to Paul da Serra, Achada do Teixeira and Fonte do Bispo have been blocked for precautionary reasons.
This morning, local newspaper JM-Madeira printed a series of photographs depicting the damage caused by storm Filomena.
This afternoon, the Regional Secretary for Equipment and Infrastructure, Pedro Fino, travelled to Machico, in order to personally see the damage caused by the storm, most of which is in the Ribeira Grande area.
As a result of today's bad weather and storm damage affecting the parish of Machico, the President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque has offered government aid to help with the cleanup operation.
As the bad weather continues and is set to get worse the Civil Protection Service (SRPC, IP-RAM) has issued a set of guidelines.
Machico is suffering significant storm damage, as barriers have collapsed due to the sheer weight of debris, mud and water, leaving some roads impassable.