In a statement made to the Lusa agency at about 9am on 20 December, the commander Paulo Santos, from the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), explained that 6,237 occurrences were recorded since Wednesday, with the districts of Porto, Viseu and Lisbon the most affected by the bad weather caused by the passing of the Elsa depression.

The official highlighted as main occurrences the falls of trees, earth movements, floods and falls of structures.

The Mealhada municipal emergency plan and the special district flood plan of Coimbra were also activated.

Between 12am and 7am on Friday, civil protection registered 353 occurrences.

"There is a slight relief, but the occurrences will increase during the day because on those roads where the tree falls did not affect anyone in the morning, when people start leaving home, they will find obstructions," said Paulo Santos.

The Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) has under orange warning (the second most serious) twelve districts of mainland Portugal and the northern coast of Madeira due mainly to the sea turbulence.

Leiria, Santarém and Portalegre are under orange warning also due to forecasts of heavy precipitation between 12pm and 3pm in the first two cases and between 12pm and 6pm in the case of Portalegre.

The IPMA also warned of the effects of a new depression, called Fabien, that will hit Portugal on Saturday, explaining that the North and Centre will be the most affected areas of the country, with heavy rain periods and strong gusts.

The institute's note also states that there will be “strong southwest wind”, with gusts expected to reach 90 kilometres per hour on the north and central coast and 120 kilometres per hour in the highlands.

“The sea turmoil associated with Fabien will also be felt on the west coast, especially on the north coast,” he adds.

However, it is expected that the effects of Fabien depression will not have the same intensity in mainland Portugal as those of storm Elsa, "in particular in terms of wind and more significant in terms of precipitation".

The IPMA forecasts a gradual improvement of the weather from Sunday.