Madeira will close all its officially designated hiking trails Wednesday, Nov. 11, after Portugal’s weather agency issued red warnings for heavy rain and mountain winds as Storm Charles approaches. The region’s forest authority announced the closures Tuesday. Porto Santo Line has also canceled Wednesday’s scheduled sailings in both directions between Funchal and Porto Santo.

The changes affect outdoor itineraries across the archipelago and a ferry link between two islands. They do not amount to a shutdown of Madeira’s airport. Its operator warned that adverse weather could affect arrivals and departures and asked passengers to confirm flights with their airlines. The most severe weather warnings on Madeira run overnight, but the trail closures and ferry cancellations apply on Wednesday.

Red warnings begin Tuesday night

The Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere, known as IPMA, put Madeira’s mountains and south coast under a red warning for heavy, persistent rain from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday, local time. A separate red wind warning for the mountains runs from midnight to 6 a.m., with gusts forecast to reach 140 kilometers per hour, or about 87 miles per hour. The south coast has an orange wind warning rather than the red one in effect at higher elevations.

The agency’s Tuesday update is more severe than the orange alert RTP Madeira reported on Monday. The weather agency’s table still shows orange rain alerts for the mountains and south coast after 6 a.m., and orange wind alerts in those areas through noon on Wednesday. The downgrade scheduled for early Wednesday therefore does not mean the weather is expected to clear then. The warnings describe forecast conditions and may change as the storm moves.

Trail closures cover the full day

The closure order applies across the autonomous region, including routes that otherwise had been open. The Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation also closed the forest road between Eira do Serrado and Pico do Areeiro for the same period. DN Madeira reported that the agency asked people to follow Civil Protection instructions and avoid recreational or sporting activities in forest areas during the closure.

The restrictions are broader than the separate notices the institute issues when individual routes are damaged. Its trail bulletin also lists preexisting safety closures, including the Levada do Furado route after part of the trail surface collapsed. That matters for visitors moving a hike to a later date: the end of Wednesday’s general closure does not itself reopen a route that was already closed for repairs or safety.

The two canceled Porto Santo sailings

The ferry operator canceled the 8 a.m. Wednesday departure from Funchal to Porto Santo and the 6 p.m. return. It cited conditions that could put passengers and the vessel at risk. RTP Madeira reported that the affected sailings were on the Lobo Marinho. The ferry notice is separate from the land warnings and applies to the specified departures even after the overnight red warning for rain is scheduled to end.

Porto Santo Line also announced that Tuesday’s 6 p.m. departure from Porto Santo would leave at 4 p.m., with existing bookings for that sailing moved automatically. That change applied to Tuesday’s crossing. Passengers booked for a canceled Wednesday sailing should check the operator’s current notice or contact it to confirm an alternative, particularly if their trip depends on a separate flight or hotel reservation.

What the warnings mean for flights

Madeira Airport posted a weather advisory for both arriving and departing flights. It directed passengers to confirm flight status with their airline before going to the terminal. The notice did not announce an airport closure or cancel all flights during the red warning. Individual flights can have different outcomes, so a weather alert for the island is not a reliable substitute for an airline’s update on a specific booking.

Travelers with onward reservations should verify each leg separately. The airline can confirm whether a flight is operating or has been moved; the ferry notice governs the inter-island crossings. Hikers should check the trail bulletin again before setting out on a later date. The dates and times published by each operator or authority cover different activities, even though the decisions stem from the same storm.

Mainland Portugal is also on alert

Portugal’s government declared a separate mainland alert for all of Wednesday, with outdoor events suspended and access restricted in vulnerable waterfront areas and wooded places identified as unsafe. The mainland declaration does not govern Madeira’s trails or ferry. It matters to travelers combining the islands with a mainland stay because those itineraries could face a second set of restrictions, including in districts such as Lisbon and Faro that also have wind warnings.

For Wednesday, Madeira’s trail closure and the two ferry cancellations are confirmed. Flight changes and any reopening after the storm depend on how conditions develop and what the operators and authorities announce. The overnight warning timetable offers a guide to when the weather may be worst; it is not a timetable for when services will return.