caused by Storm Leonardo. In Portugal, the latest depression -- christened Storm Marta -- led to the deployment of more than 26,500 rescue workers.  It was a 46-year-old volunteer member of the emergency services who died Saturday trying to cross a flooded zone, according to local media reports -- the first victim of Storm Marta. The extreme weather also led three municipalities to postpone by a week a presidential vote meant to be held on Sunday. Storm Kristin killed five people when it swept across Portugal last week, and Storm Leonardo claimed another victim on Wednesday.

The Iberian Peninsula is on the front lines of climate change in Europe. It has been experiencing increasingly prolonged heat waves and more frequent, intense episodes of heavy rainfall for several years. Both Spain and Portugal have issued fresh flood alerts. The storms have already blocked hundreds of roads, disrupted trains and forced thousands to evacuate from the rising waters. (Bssnews)