Storm Kristin

Storm Kristin was a compact, catastrophic and record-breaking extratropical cyclone that severely impacted Portugal, as well as parts of the Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe in late January 2026. Storm Kristin was the twenty-sixth storm of the 2025-26 European windstorm season, and the eleventh to be named by the south-western naming group, which consists of France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Kristin was named by the IPMA on 27 January, as a significant impact was forecasted. The impact of Kristin and its successors was described as a humanitarian crisis by a researcher in extreme weather and climate change.

Kristin achieved record-breaking status by rapidly intensifying just before striking the Leiria district, becoming Portugal’s strongest on record. Kristin made landfall at peak intensity in the Leiria district, which resulted in extremely intense winds in multiple Portuguese districts. By exceeding the wind speeds of both Cyclone Xola in 2009 and Hurricane Leslie in 2018, the storm caused catastrophic damage. The extreme wind gusts of more than 200 km/h are attributed to a probable sting jet that developed as the system made landfall. While reanalysis-derived gusts were lower than observations, a cyclone like Kristin had a return period of 80-90 years based on a reanalysis. Before disappearing, Kristin also severely affected Spain and caused heavy precipitation in Italy and Greece.

Kristin especially affected the Portuguese districts of Leiria, Coimbra, and Santarém, but also affected other districts in Portugal such as Lisbon. After moving through Portugal, Kristin also affected Spain severely. As a result of Kristin, Portugal experienced its largest blackout in history. Around 1,000,000 customers in Portugal were without power, according to E-Redes. Approximately 170,000 customers experienced power outages in Andalusia. Over 2,000 injuries were reported in Portugal, most of them got injured indirectly as a result of cleaning and reconstruction operations or misusage of generators. Furthermore, 14 deaths were attributed to Kristin in Portugal, six direct and eight indirect. One death and 5 injuries were reported in Spain. Estimated monetary losses in Portugal are more than €6 billion, which is more than 1.6% of the country's GDP, making Kristin the most damaging storm on record for Portugal. Initial government estimates indicate losses of €1.2 billion in Spain, bringing the total amount of losses by Kristin to more than €7.2 billion, which makes Kristin the most damaging European windstorm since Lothar of 1999. At least 15 million trees fell in Portugal during Kristin.

Kristin's successor, storm Leonardo, was responsible for causing major floodings in parts of Portugal, which exacerbated the impact of Kristin.