It seems to me and I could be completely wrong… that no one can accurately predict the weather as proved by Storm Charles
Before I begin I preface below by saying: when it rains in Portugal it rains. Rain here can resemble the weather gods pouring buckets of water from the sky. Yes… it can really be that heavy. And living near the coast the winds can be as equally alarming as you can see from this photograph of our Washingtonia. The day this picture was taken in APril I could lean into the wind and not fall over.
Over the last month or so I’ve lost count of the times rain was forecast and nothing. Not a drop.
Storm Charles
On Tuesday 10th we received a red warning alert by text that translated to: ‘forecasts will worsen in the coming days due to the Bruna low pressure systems. There was going to be persistent rain and winds up to 140ck/h on Wednesday’.
Me being me immediately went into overdrive and insisted Mr. P prune the bougainvillea right back in case the wind ripped it down. Move the lower patio furniture so it didn’t end up in the pool as it occasionally does after we’ve had high winds. Move all the little garden pots and ornaments off the racking on the front terrace and generally battened down the hatches…
We awaited the arrival of Charles with trepidation.
Wednesday dawned and the storm was nothing out of the ordinary and Thursday brought bright sunshine and intermittent heavy showers. Yes, some areas experienced flash floods, accidents etc but then they have other years. Same with falling trees and debris. Earlier in the year, Storm Kristin (2026) recorded gusts of 208.8 km/h. A friend’s plastic greenhouse was uprooted and blown away, never to be seen again, and another friend’s dog kennel was blown into the pool (no, the dog was not in it). Apparently we had a mini tornado. No red alerts were issued.
But on this occasion schools were closed as were some supermarkets and other services. We were told to “avoid unnecessary travel and stay home whenever possible”. Other advice included staying away from trees and the coast.
So was it better to play it safe after the damage caused by Storm Kristin in January 2026, when authorities were criticised for not issuing a warning, or, after the non-event of Storm Charles, will people just shrug it off because the authorities got it wrong this time?
Or do we continue, just to look outside and trust good old-fashioned common sense?
Sadly, there will always be those who were last in the queue when a dose of common sense was served up, and regardless of warnings, they will do their own thing…
Are we now truly beginning to feel the effects of climate change?
How accurate are the weather forecasts where you live?
Please share your thoughts!