Emergency worker killed in Portugal as Storm Marta passes over Iberian peninsula
A view of Alcácer do Sal, southern Portugal, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, after the Sado River overflowed following heavy rains.
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AP Photo/Ana Brigida
08/02/2026 – 11:00 GMT+1
Spain and Portugal endured fresh storms and torrential rain that claimed another life Saturday, just days after the deadly flooding and major damage caused by Storm Leonardo.
One person was killed in Portugal as fresh torrential rain brought by Storm Marta passed over the Iberian peninsula, the latest amid weeks of severe weather.
Authorities said a 46-year-old member of the emergency services drowned in a river at Campo Maior, in the central Portalegre district. He died while trying to cross a flooded zone, according to media reports.
The extreme weather also led three municipalities to postpone by a week a presidential vote, for which polls opened on Sunday.
Storm Kristin killed at least five people when it swept across Portugal last week, and Storm Leonardo claimed another victim on Wednesday.
The risk of flooding from the Tagus river in the country’s central Santarém region remained at its highest level, the authorities said.
Further south, in Alcácer do Sal, the waters of the Sado river had receded to the banks, they added.
Parts of Alcácer do Sal were submerged after the Sado River overflowed, forcing residents to leave the city located 90 kilometres south of Lisbon.
In Spain, Storm Marta caused the closure of dozens of roads on Sunday, as it continues its advance moving northeast.
In Ávila, the driver of a snow plough died on Saturday after the vehicle plunged down a 20-metre slope in the El Pico pass.
According to the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), more than a hundred roads were closed in the early morning, most due to flooding and others due to snow and ice.
Cadiz is the most affected province, with several roads impassable, followed by Cordoba and Seville. At the same time, a snowstorm is keeping mountain passes and roads closed in provinces such as Granada, Asturias, Salamanca and Navarre.
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) said that while rains will ease on Sunday, they will persist in some areas, including the Strait of Gibraltar, the area around the Alboran Sea and the Andalusian mountain ranges, as well as in the Balearic Islands, the northeast of Catalonia and the Cantabrian Sea. Locally heavy showers are expected, with thunderstorms and hail in some places.
