LISBON - Tropical storm Vince became the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall in Iberia on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and winds to southern Spain and Portugal, meteorologists said.
Vince developed into a hurricane in an unusual location near Madeira in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday but gradually lost strength as it moved northeast towards Iberia, skimming Portugal's south before hitting land in Spain early on Tuesday.
Vince was downgraded on Monday to a tropical storm by the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.
"The historical record shows no tropical cyclone ever making landfall on the Iberian peninsula," the center said.
Hurricanes and tropical storms usually form in warmer waters much further south than the islands of Madeira, which are about 2,000 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Portugal.
Portugal's Meteorological Institute said the storm caused downpours and strong gusts of winds in the Algarve, Portugal's main tourist area in the south. The strongest recorded winds reached 43 mph (68 kph), it said in a statement.
It made landfall mid-morning on Tuesday in southern Spain, just over the border from Portugal.
Vince was expected to continue moving east-northeast over Spain before dissipating in the next six to 12 hours, the institute said.
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