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'Zombie' Hurricane Leslie Approaches Europe; Travel Waivers Issued

Oct. 13, 2018
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3 min read
Touring the island of Madeira
'Zombie' Hurricane Leslie Approaches Europe; Travel Waivers Issued
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Hurricane Leslie has lurked off the coast of the Atlantic for several weeks now, acquiring its "zombie" moniker for surviving on warm waters and moisture from regional weather since Sept. 23. Despite being bounced around by numerous weather systems, the tropical storm has hovered well away from land up until this past week. Now, all of that may change as a shift in weather has finally sent Leslie eastward, bound for the western shores of Portugal and the Iberian peninsula.

The National Hurricane Center, which monitors storms in the Atlantic basin, announced Friday evening that Hurricane Leslie is expected to bring "near hurricane-force winds" to Portugal and portions of western Spain, reporting that the storm was "rapidly heading east-northeastward" toward land. Saturday morning follow-up posts remarked, "Leslie heading for the Iberian peninsula in a hurry" and "defiant Leslie still a hurricane." According to AccuWeather, the cities likely to be most affected will be from Lisbon to Lagos and Faro, Portugal, and from Salamanca and the northern suburbs of Madrid, Spain, to A Coruña and Bilbao.

Leslie is the first tropical storm to target the Iberian Peninsula with such intensity since Vince in 2005, which briefly reached hurricane status near the Azores before winding down to end up as a tropical depression closer to the mainland near Huelva, Spain.

Lingering moisture and weather disruption from Hurricane Michael, on the other side of the Atlantic, is crossing the ocean as well, and could send some rainfall into northern Portugal and western Spain on Monday.

As of publish time, TAP Air Portugal is the only airline to have released travel waivers for Madeira Island, off the southwestern coast of Portugal:

TAP Air Portugal

    • Travel dates: October 13-15, 2018
    • Airports affected: Funchal (FNC), Porto Santo (PXO)
    • Must have bought your ticket by October 12
    • Rebook travel anytime up to October 22
    • You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin.
    • Additional information here.

easyJet

While easyJet hasn't formally announced any flight cancellations or delays, the airline has issued an announcement, stating, "Hurricane Leslie is expected to move across the Atlantic Ocean this weekend and high winds may affect the Canaries and also the routes that our aircraft fly to and from the islands. We currently plan to operate our flights to and from airports in the Canary Islands as planned and we are monitoring the weather conditions closely whilst looking to minimise any impact to flights as much as possible."

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TPG will continue to monitor potential waiver updates from all major carriers.

Featured image by NurPhoto via Getty Images

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  • Solid welcome bonus

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  • Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
  • You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
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  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
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  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Annual Fee is $325.
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