More than 300 flights in and out of Portugal were cancelled, while businesses and all schools nationwide shut down before Storm Charles hit the country's mainland on Wednesday, but the heavy rainfall and intense winds passed without causing severe damage.
For the first time in living memory, about 8,000 of Portugal's schools cancelled classes over the significant Atlantic storm forecast. Streets were largely deserted when the storm arrived, because the government had told people to stay at home, fearing the worst. The national weather agency, IPMA, recorded wind gusts of more than 120km/h (75mph) in some areas.
Operations shut down on Wednesday across four different international airports, as well as hundreds of supermarkets and all non-essential public services across the country. A national supermarket chain closed its stores, while the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, attended by about 70,000 people, called off the day's events.
Storm Charles had struck the Portuguese island of Madeira, off northwest Africa, on Tuesday with 130km/h (81mph) winds. By mid-afternoon, only the southern Algarve region remained on red alert, the highest level of emergency warning, which initially had covered more than half of the country.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro chaired a crisis unit along with eight government ministers and other officials to monitor the storm. Interior Minister Luis Neves, who oversees public safety, dismissed suggestions that authorities had overreacted, saying the government organised its response in accordance with the weather forecast.
Authorities spared no effort in preparation after criticism following January's Storm Kristin, which felled thousands of trees and caused widespread property damage in central Portugal that is still being repaired. The storm was forecast to head later into Spain, where workers staged a general strike on Wednesday.
