Although it mainly affected the north-west of France and the south of England, storm Ciaran caused heavy damage on a wider scale. A Danish-flagged sailboat capsized on Friday about a kilometer off the Portuguese coast, hit by the strong swells caused by storm Ciaran, which left a dozen dead elsewhere in Europe.
Initially, Portuguese authorities reported the discovery of three victims on the beach where the boat ran aground, and believed there were only three people on board. The body of a second woman was found inside the wreckage when authorities were removing the debris from one of the beaches of Santa Cruz, in the municipality of Torres Vedras located about 60 km to the north from Lisbon, said navy spokesperson José Sousa Luis.
No life jackets
Three of the victims, a 56-year-old man and the two women, aged 46 and 61, were Danish nationals, the spokesperson said, adding that the nationality of the other victim, a 57-year-old man, was not known at this stage. The pleasure boat left the port of Peniche located about thirty kilometers north of Santa Cruz on Friday morning with three people on board, and its occupants were not wearing life jackets, the navy spokesperson said.
Although Portugal was not “directly affected” by Storm Ciaran, the National Meteorological Institute (IPMA) had placed the central and northern coastal regions of the country under red alert due to a very rough ocean, with waves that can exceed 7 meters high. A new storm was expected to pass off the coast of Portugal on Saturday and Sunday, with waves that could reach up to 9 meters high, said the IPMA, while civil protection warned the population against these new bad weather conditions, marked also by heavy rain and strong winds.