Storm Leonardo has turned large parts of Europe into a patchwork of flooded towns, grounded airports and paralysed transport networks, capping weeks of extreme winter weather. From Spain’s southern hills to the flatlands of Denmark, authorities are struggling to keep rivers within their banks and roads open as fresh rain and snow keep piling on.
The same system that has drenched the Iberian Peninsula is colliding with entrenched cold air further north, amplifying disruption from Lisbon and Madrid to Copenhagen. I see a continent confronting not just one violent storm but the cumulative strain of saturated soils, swollen aquifers and infrastructure that was never designed for this kind of sustained battering.
Spain and Portugal at the epicentre
Nowhere has felt the force of Storm Leonardo more intensely than Spain and Portugal, where swollen rivers and hillside torrents have turned deadly. In reports from Lisbon and Madrid, officials confirmed that there was One Dead, Girl after Storm Leonardo Hits Portugal Spain, with rescuers warning of continuing risks of flash flooding and landslides around Lisbon and Madrid. Emergency services in Spain and Portugal have been stretched by simultaneous rescues, evacuations and road closures as the storm’s rain bands stalled over the region.
In Spain’s southern Andalusia region, the scale of the upheaval has been stark. One detailed account put the number of evacuees at 4,000 people, while another assessment of the Consequences of Storm Leonardo in Spain and Portugal said that In Andalusia around 3,500 people had been moved from their homes as rivers burst their banks. Authorities have issued red alerts across multiple provinces as Torrential rain flooded homes and streets and triggered landslides in upland towns.
Grazalema’s deluge and the strain on aquifers
The small town of Grazalema in Spain has become a symbol of Leonardo’s ferocity. Spain woke to flooded streets in Grazalema on Thursday after Storm Leonardo dumped more than 600 litres per metre in just a few hours, a volume that would overwhelm drainage systems in any European town. Local authorities in Grazalema, Spain have described a dramatic rise in water levels as Leonardo swells rivers and fills aquifers across Spain and Portugal, with Authorities warning that the ground simply cannot absorb more.
The hydrological pressure is not just a short term nuisance, it is a structural risk. Officials have explained that the aquifers in the Grazalema mountains are full and could provoke landslides due to pent up pressure, a warning delivered by regional leader Moreno on SER radio. National briefings have echoed that message, with meteorologists cautioning that GRAZALEMA, Spain and low lying areas near ALCACER DO SAL in Portugal are particularly exposed if further rain arrives.
Evacuations, missing residents and red alerts
Behind the statistics are families forced to leave everything behind at short notice. In Spain and Portugal, local officials have described how Storm slams Spain and Portugal, leaving 1 dead and a girl missing, with In Spain, Andalusia bearing the brunt as close to 4,000 people were moved from flood prone districts. The same pattern appears in other tallies of the Consequences of Storm Leonardo in Spain and Portugal, which note that In Andalusia around 3,500 people have been evacuated and hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed.
European level briefings have underlined how quickly conditions deteriorated. One assessment from Brussels described how Storm Leonardo caused, evacuations and red alerts after slamming Spain and Portugal, with Torrential rain overwhelming drainage in coastal cities and causing widespread damage in Andalusia. Another summary from Brussels Mornin stressed again that there was One Dead, Girl as Storm Leonardo Hits Portugal Spain, underscoring how quickly a winter storm can turn into a life threatening emergency in Lisbon and Madrid when river levels spike.
Flights grounded, trains halted and a continent on pause
While the human toll is most acute in flooded neighbourhoods, Leonardo has also ripped through Europe’s transport systems. Aviation authorities have reported that Storm Leonardo wreaks havoc in Europe with flights grounded and major flooding, leaving passengers stranded as airports temporarily closed runways. The same storm complex has snarled road traffic and forced detours around submerged motorways, with live feeds showing a Fullscreen Video Player struggling to keep up with the pace of new closures.
Rail networks have fared no better. In Portugal, Storm Leonardo and Kristin have wreaked havoc across the country, forcing all long distance trains between Lisbon and Porto to shut down as tracks flooded and overhead lines iced up. Further north, a separate but related snowstorm brought much of Denmark to a halt on Friday, with authorities halting public transport, closing schools and cancelling flights as heavy snowfall blanketed the country. In cities like Aarhus, bus services were cancelled entirely, illustrating how a single winter system can freeze mobility from the Iberian Peninsula to Scandinavia.
Weeks of wet weather and what comes next
Leonardo is not an isolated outburst but the latest surge in a relentless sequence of storms. Meteorologists have noted that Europe feels the impact of weeks of wet weather and freezing cold, with Lead Weather Presenter Darren Bett warning that Hundreds of thousands of people have already faced flooding as river levels reached record highs. That backdrop of saturated catchments explains why Leonardo’s rainfall has produced such extreme flooding so quickly, and why even modest additional showers could trigger new emergencies.
Forecasts suggest the danger is not over. National agencies are already warning of More storms coming as Leonardo swells rivers and fills aquifers in Spain and Portugal, with hydrologists cautioning that any extra rainfall will run straight off into already swollen channels. One detailed outlook has even flagged that Further rain on Saturday could endanger more homes, with the situation around Jaen and the Guadalquivir area of Cordoba singled out as particularly fragile.
More from Morning Overview
*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
