Spain and Portugal reel from the impact of Storm Leonardo

Tunisia experienced its heaviest rainfall in more than 70 years in January. Bad weather and flooding also occurred in Algeria.

Morocco has been particularly hard hit in recent weeks. Last month, the port of Tangier saw rainfall four times the January average and even heavier rains hit the north on Wednesday in association with Storm Leonardo.

The army was deployed to help with evacuations amid a red alert linked to heavy rainfall this week. More than 140,000 people have already been evacuated in the north of the country.

Authorities urged residents in flood-prone areas on the country’s northwest plains to leave immediately, amid growing threats of flooding from heavy rains, swollen rivers and the release of additional water from full dams.

Storm Marta will bring more rain to northern Morocco and Algeria this weekend.

These exceptional precipitations put an end to a seven-year drought which had pushed Morocco to accelerate its investments in desalination.