Popular hiking trails in Madeira closed due to bad weather
Due to the effects of the bad weather caused by Depression Charles, all 41 classified hiking routes in Madeira remain closed on Thursday.
The president of the local Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation, Manuel Filipe, said that access to many trails is still limited. Experts plan to assess the condition of each section in detail, so the return of tourists to the routes will take place in stages and only if it is completely safe.
The head of the department also urged people to refrain from traveling to the mountainous region of Paul da Serra, where people go to see temporary reservoirs formed as a result of heavy rains.
Source: Percursos pedestres mantêm-se encerrados quinta-feira - JM Madeira
Context
The Paulo da Serra is the only large plateau on the volcanic island of Madeira, located at an altitude of about 1400–1500 meters above sea level. Thanks to its flat terrain and basalt rocks, the plateau acts as a natural hydrological reservoir: it retains precipitation and feeds the underground horizons that fill the network of famous irrigation channels - levadas.
It is from this plateau that hikers usually start their hikes to the famous routes of the Rabasal region, including the trails along the levadas 25 Fontes and Riscu. Since the flat terrain tends to accumulate a lot of moisture during prolonged storms, it quickly becomes flooded, temporarily making safe movement impossible.