(UTV|COLOMBO) – Hurricane-force winds have brought down hundreds of trees and left more than 15,000 homes without power in Portugal.
The remnants of Hurricane Leslie swept into the centre and north of the country overnight on Saturday.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries, but officials have warned people not to venture outdoors, and a number of flights have been cancelled.
The storm, one of the most powerful to ever hit the country, is now heading for Spain.
Wind speeds of up to 176km/h (109mph) were recorded after the storm struck the mainland.
It is rare for an Atlantic hurricane to reach the Iberian Peninsula, and it is thought this could be the most powerful to hit Portugal since 1842.
However, Hurricane Leslie, which formed on 23 September, was downgraded to a tropical storm before it made landfall.
Portugal’s civil protection chief Luis Belo Costa warned of possible flooding in coastal areas ahead of the storm’s arrival.
