Heavy rainfall led IPMA to raise the alert level to red for a large part of Madeira Island on the morning of January 1, 2026, with values well above the thresholds defined for high meteorological risk.
The peak of the heavy rain occurred at sunrise, between 8:00 AM and 8:10 AM, a period in which Pico do Areeiro recorded 11.7 liters per square meter in just 10 minutes, more than 1 liter per minute. At that time, the red alert was already active, also supported by the high accumulations of the previous hours.
In just six hours, between 2:30 AM and 8:30 AM, the top of the island accumulated 170.4 mm of rain, more than double the red alert threshold (60 mm/6h). In the last 24 hours, the total has reached 215.0 mm.
Besides Pico do Areeiro, other locations also exceeded the maximum criteria set by IPMA (Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere). In Chão do Areeiro, 147.9 mm of rain were measured in six hours, while in São Vicente the precipitation reached 82.1 mm/6h, also at the red alert level.
In the orange alert, Prazeres stands out with 44.5 mm in 6 hours, and Chão do Areeiro, where 39.7 mm were recorded in one hour. São Vicente also accumulated 62.5 mm in three hours, a value that corresponds to a red alert in the six-hour criterion, and 25.4 mm in one hour, at the orange threshold.
Already under a yellow warning, rainfall records emerge for Santo da Serra (39.7 mm/6h and 12.6 mm/1h), Porto Moniz (39.2 mm/6h and 10.9 mm/1h) and Ponta do Sol/Lugar de Baixo, with 14.5 mm in one hour, confirming the extent of the intense precipitation episode across the entire island, although with greater severity in the mountainous areas and northern slopes.