The Library Media — National & World · World Desk
Storm Charles Pushes Into France and Italy After Flooding Spain and Portugal
By Maya Wilson
Photo: Abxbay / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
Storm Charles has moved north-east through southern France towards northern Italy after bringing flooding to parts of Spain and Portugal, with heavy rain causing rock falls and road closures along the French Riviera and Italy issuing its highest-level rainfall warning across a wide area, The Guardian reported Friday, November 13.
Flooding in parts of Cannes, in southern France, caused rock falls and road closures along the French Riviera, according to The Guardian. The storm’s movement into France and towards Italy has brought further concern over rainfall, with weather authorities warning of significant precipitation in the days ahead.
Italy’s weather service issued a red warning, its highest level, for rainfall across the area stretching from Tuscany to Venezia, The Guardian reported.
Forecast models cited by the newspaper indicate that around 100 millimetres of additional rain could fall widely across Italy and the Balkans over the following days. In mountainous areas, accumulated rainfall totals could approach 200 millimetres, according to the forecast information cited by The Guardian.
The forecast suggests that the storm’s effects could extend beyond the areas already experiencing flooding and disruption. However, further details about the expected local impacts, including specific locations likely to experience the heaviest rainfall, had not been reported in the available sourcing.
The Guardian’s report did not provide casualty figures for the French or Italian legs of the storm. No deaths or injuries in those areas had been reported.
Iberian landfall provides earlier context
The storm’s latest movement follows its earlier passage through Portugal and Spain, which The Library Media covered when Storm Charles made landfall in Portugal on Wednesday.
The Guardian reported that Madeira was hit first, recording 355 millimetres of rain in 12 hours. A wind gust of 136 kilometres per hour, or 84.5 miles per hour, was recorded at Funchal airport.
The storm subsequently brought disruption to air travel in the Iberian Peninsula. Lisbon cancelled 183 flights on Wednesday, representing about one-third of its normal daily traffic, while Madrid Barajas cancelled 155 flights, according to The Guardian.
The storm passed through Portugal with no casualties reported, the newspaper said.
Those figures describe the earlier Iberian phase of Storm Charles rather than new developments on Friday. The latest reporting instead focuses on the storm’s movement through southern France and towards northern Italy, where rainfall warnings and flooding-related disruption have been reported.
The earlier figures from Madeira, Lisbon and Madrid illustrate the scale of rainfall and transport disruption associated with the storm before it moved further into western Europe. The available reporting did not provide updated totals for rainfall across Spain or Portugal on Friday.
Further rainfall expected across Italy and the Balkans
The red rainfall warning issued by Italy’s weather service covers the area from Tuscany to Venezia, according to The Guardian. The warning represents the highest level issued by the service for rainfall.
Forecast models cited by the newspaper point to around 100 millimetres of additional rain across broad areas of Italy and the Balkans in the following days. Mountainous areas could receive totals approaching 200 millimetres.
The forecast figures indicate the possibility of substantial further rainfall, although the available information did not specify precisely when the heaviest precipitation would occur or identify individual communities expected to receive the highest totals.
In France, the reported flooding in Cannes has already caused rock falls and road closures along the Riviera. The Guardian did not provide further details about the number of roads affected, the duration of closures or the extent of damage caused by the rock falls.
The available reporting also did not specify whether additional evacuations or other emergency measures had been ordered in France or Italy.
Disruption reported elsewhere
The Guardian also reported that heavy rain and strong winds caused disruption across British Columbia, Canada, over the past week.
The report did not provide further details about the locations affected or the extent of the disruption in the Canadian province.
For Storm Charles, the immediate focus remains its movement through southern France towards northern Italy, with flooding-related disruption reported around Cannes and Italy’s red rainfall warning covering a broad stretch from Tuscany to Venezia.
The forecast of further rainfall across Italy and the Balkans suggests that the weather system’s effects may continue in the coming days. Specific local impacts, updated rainfall totals and any casualty figures for France and Italy had not been reported in the available sourcing.
Maya Wilson
World Desk, The Library Media
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