Winds of up to 150 kilometres (90 miles) an hour knocked out the electrical supply on the island of Flores while on the island of Pico, home to Portugal's highest mountain range, a tornado slightly damaged 18 homes, private radio TSF reported.

The radio station added that a Greek yacht with five people onboard had run into trouble in 12-metre (40-foot) high waves off the coast of Pico.

Authorities evacuated residents from two homes located near the ocean on Flores to higher ground because of the rough seas.

A total of 39 flights between the nine islands that make up the archipelago were canceled due to the rough weather as well as nine flights between the archipelago and mainland Portugal.

Numerous roads on the mountainous archipelago, which is located some 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) off the coast of Portugal, were blocked due to mudslides and fallen debris caused by the heavy wind and rain.

The governor of Azores, Carlos Cesar, said the government was doing it all could to clear the roads and restore the power supply.

"We have roughly 100 heavy machines at work and more than 420 road workers on the job," he told TSF.

He said added more than 300 firefighters were on hand to deal with emergencies throughout the islands but workers from the electrical company would only be able to restore the power supply once the winds died down.

Portugal's weather office said it expected the rough weather to continue for the rest of the day.

SPACE.WIRE