Storm Charles has swept across the Iberian peninsula this week, delivering destructive weather that hit Portugal and the far south of Spain hardest, with widespread flooding and hundreds of flight cancellations reported across the region.
The system arrived first in the Portuguese island of Madeira, bringing heavy rain and strong south-westerly winds, before heading towards the mainland on 11 November. A wind gust of 84.5mph (136 km/h) was recorded at Funchal airport, and rainfall totals on the island reached 355mm in just 12 hours.
The disruption extended to air travel on the continent. Lisbon saw 183 flights cancelled on Wednesday, roughly a third of the Portuguese capital's normal daily traffic, while Madrid Barajas airport recorded 155 cancellations.
After causing extensive flooding in Spain and Portugal, the storm tracked north-eastwards through southern France and on towards northern Italy. Parts of Cannes were left significantly flooded, with the severe weather triggering rock falls and forcing the closure of roads along the French Riviera.
In Italy, the national weather service issued a red rainfall warning, its highest level, for the area stretching from Tuscany to Venezia. Forecasters expect further heavy rain across Italy and the Balkans over the next few days, with the latest models indicating an additional 100mm could accumulate widely and totals close to 200mm are likely in more mountainous areas.
On the other side of the Atlantic, successive rounds of heavy rain and strong winds have caused flooding, landslides and disruption across British Columbia in Canada over the past week or so. Between Monday and Friday last week, severe rainfall and strong winds left more than 400,000 customers without power, and the unsettled conditions continued into the weekend, when further heavy rain cut power to another 135,000 customers alongside downed trees, flooded roads and landslides.
Strong winds were also recorded on Sunday, with a gust of 72.1mph (116 km/h) measured on Herbert Island and a gust of 60mph (96 km/h) at Victoria international airport. Heavy rain warnings were then issued on Wednesday for Vancouver Island and southern coastal areas, as multiple stations recorded rainfall totals in excess of 100mm.
The River Forecast Centre also issued flood warnings on Wednesday across the south coast, warning that heavy rain and high streamflow were continuing to bring an increased risk of flash flooding and landslides. A further area of low pressure is expected to bring torrential rain and strong winds to the same region over the coming weekend, with more than 100mm likely across central and southern parts of Vancouver Island on Saturday and gusts in excess of 60mph also expected.
