According to the commander of the Ponte de Lima volunteer firefighters, Carlos Lima, road traffic is cut off on the Estorãos bridge, flooded by the waters of the Estorãos River, and the same has happened on the Santa Marinha bridge, in Arcozelo, flooded by the Labruja river.

The commander also mentioned that the “rapid rise” of the Lima River, in Ponte de Lima, district of Viana do Castelo, submerged two vehicles parked in the sand area, and, at 9:20 am, the firefighters had not yet managed to remove them.

Carlos Lima expressed concern about the rapid rise of the Lima River.

“It continues to rain. The river is rising about 10 to 20 centimetres every half an hour,” he explained.

The district of Viana do Castelo is today under a red warning, the most serious, due to the forecast of persistent and sometimes heavy rain, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

The districts of Braga and Vila Real will be under orange warning due to rain until 09:00 today while Viseu, Guarda, Aveiro and Coimbra until 15:00.

Also because of the rain, IPMA placed the districts of Porto, Leiria and Castelo Branco on yellow warning until 3pm today.

The IPMA also issued a yellow warning for the districts of Viseu, Porto, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo, Aveiro and Beja until 12:00 today due to the strong wind from the west quadrant, with gusts of up to 75 kilometers per hour.