Heavy overnight rain in Madeira's highlands pushed rainfall totals above the red warning threshold. Ricardo Tavares, Madeira's delegate at the Portuguese Institute for Atmosphere and Sea (IPMA), said conditions had developed as forecast.
IPMA's station network recorded 85.3 mm at Pico do Areeiro and 84.7 mm at Chão do Areeiro over six hours, with Pico do Areeiro also logging 32.3 mm in a single hour. On the south coast, Prazeres recorded 27.1 mm in one hour and 38.2 mm over six hours.
Rainfall intensified around midnight, which justified the orange warning for the highlands and parts of the south coast. Despite exceeding the red threshold, Tavares said an upgrade was not justified, and IPMA is reviewing the highland thresholds to check whether they reflect rainfall impacts adequately.