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Cyclone Season in Mauritius: Warnings and How to Prepare

By Rory Phillips · Updated October 2026

Cyclone season in Mauritius officially runs from 1 November to 15 May, when the Mauritius Meteorological Services (MMS) says the risk of tropical cyclone formation is highest. Its warnings come in four classes: Class I is issued 36 to 48 hours before gusts of 120 km/h are expected, and Class IV once such gusts are recorded in some places and expected to continue. The MMS outlook of 27 October 2026 expects 5 to 7 named storms across the whole South West Indian Ocean in 2026-27, and says named storms will not necessarily affect Mauritius directly.

Before you sign a lease or book a first summer on the island, it helps to know how cyclone season in Mauritius works in practice. This guide sets out the four warning classes and what each asks of a household, the MMS outlook for 2026-27, how often the stronger warnings come (as far as we could confirm), and what to do before, during and after a storm.

When cyclone season starts and ends

The MMS divides the year into a warm, humid summer from 1 November to 30 April and a cooler, drier winter from June to September, with October and May as transition months. The official cyclone season is a little longer than summer, running from 1 November to 15 May: the period when the MMS says the risk of tropical cyclone formation is highest. Storms may still form and be named outside those dates, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) describes the season more loosely, as usually November to May.

Rain follows the same calendar. The MMS averages for 1971 to 2000 put 67% of the island’s annual rainfall in summer, with February and March the wettest months and October the driest. A winter arrival leaves several months to sort out housing before the season opens.

The four warning classes and what to do at each

The MMS issues cyclone warnings for Mauritius and Rodrigues. The first three classes count down to gusts of 120 km/h, and the fourth applies once they are recorded. The table paraphrases the MMS wording and precautions; the originals are linked in the sources.

Class	When the MMS issues it	What the MMS asks of households
I	36 to 48 hours before gusts of 120 km/h are expected	Get the emergency kit ready, follow bulletins on radio and TV, and prepare to secure windows and doors with shutters or shields.
II	Timed, as far as practicable, to leave 12 hours of daylight before those gusts	Check the kit is complete, store enough drinking water, and keep following bulletins.
III	Timed, as far as practicable, to leave 6 hours of daylight before those gusts	Finish preparing: fix shutters, secure doors and windows, store loose articles, shelter animals, secure vehicles. Avoid areas prone to storm surge and flooding, and avoid going outside. Anyone in an insecure dwelling should move early to a cyclone refugee centre, with the kit.
IV	When gusts of 120 km/h are recorded in some places and expected to continue	Stay inside, in the safest part of the house. Disconnect electrical appliances and listen to bulletins. If the house starts to suffer important damage, protect yourself with a mattress, rugs or blankets.

Two further notices close the sequence. A safety bulletin lifts Class III or IV once the MMS judges that the risk of 120 km/h gusts has abated and the storm is moving away, and it informs the public of severe weather linked to the storm and other environmental risks. After Class I, Class II or a safety bulletin, a termination bulletin follows once the National Crisis Committee advises that outdoor risks have considerably decreased. Warning bulletins for Mauritius and for Rodrigues are posted on the MMS site in English, French and Creole.

Before you sign a lease: ask to see the shutters or shields, look at the roof, and check how water drains from the yard. These come from the MMS and disaster-centre checklists, and they are far easier to inspect on a dry day than in the 36 to 48 hours a first warning allows.

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What the MMS expects for 2026-27

The MMS seasonal outlook for summer 2026-27 is dated 27 October 2026. It covers the season as a whole, not individual storms, and carries a note that it may be updated, so check the MMS page for the current version. Its main points:

El Niño. The current El Niño began developing in June 2026, has reached very strong intensity, and is expected to keep intensifying through the summer.
Named storms. The MMS expects between 5 and 7 across the whole South West Indian Ocean basin. One, Moderate Tropical Storm Agueda, was named by Meteo Madagascar on 20 October 2026, before the summer began. The MMS adds that named storms will not necessarily affect Mauritius directly.
Rain. The summer rains are expected to start in the last week of November 2026. Mauritius is expected to see below-normal rainfall, about 1,100 mm or 80% of the long-term mean; Rodrigues slightly above normal, about 930 mm or 115%.
Heat. Above-normal temperatures, on some days more than 3°C over the long-term monthly average, with highs that may reach around 36°C on the western coasts. From December 2026 to March 2027, high humidity and light winds may bring torrid conditions, with severe discomfort mainly for vulnerable groups.
Extreme weather. The MMS calls extreme events very likely, among them heavy or torrential rain, violent thunderstorms, mini tornadoes and rapid intensification of cyclones, and says short bursts of intense rain may cause localised flash floods. Heavy swells may reach shores, and a cyclone passing very close may bring storm surge.

The MMS list of 26 storm names for 2026-27, dated 3 August 2026, runs from Agueda to Zacarias. A name alone says nothing about Mauritius; a warning class does.

How often the stronger warnings come

We found no official count of how many times each warning class has been issued, so we cannot give a yearly rate for the stronger classes.

What the MMS does publish is a list of historical cyclones: 44 entries from 1892 to 2007. It does not say how entries were chosen, and the track maps on the same page are captioned as the worst cyclones to have affected Mauritius and Rodrigues, so we read it as a list of notable storms, not a complete record. It does show what the bigger storms have done. Five entries give the nearest distance as over Mauritius: an intense cyclone in January 1945, Carol in February 1960, Gervaise in February 1975, Claudette in December 1979 and, as a moderate depression, Christelle in January 1995. Their listed highest gusts were 156, 256, 280, 221 and 109 km/h. Gilberte, a severe depression in January 1967, is listed with its centre over the eastern part of the island. Others pass at 20 to 60 km, such as Hollanda in February 1994 (20 km north-west, gusts of 216 km/h) and Dina in January 2002 (50 km north, 228 km/h).

After 2007 we found no official list or count, only press coverage, so these are examples, not a rate. Al Jazeera reported a Class III warning for Freddy in February 2023. EWN, carrying AFP, reported Class III for Belal on 15 January 2024, and Free Malaysia Today, also carrying AFP, reported the maximum warning, Class IV, a day later.

What shuts when a warning is up

We found no official page that sets closures by warning class. These are what news agencies reported in two past storms, so treat them as examples, not rules.

Freddy, February 2023. With Class III in force on the Monday, Al Jazeera reported flights grounded, the stock exchange shut, and the airport operator saying the international airport would close from that Monday until further notice.
Belal, 15 January 2024. With Class III in force, EWN (carrying AFP) reported the airport closing from 4.30pm, and banks, government offices and other businesses shutting and sending staff home. The education ministry said schools would stay closed the next day, and heavy flooding left cars under water in Port Louis.
Belal, 16 January 2024. With the maximum warning in force, Free Malaysia Today (carrying AFP) reported the airport closed, the national airline cancelling several flights and a curfew running until noon. The electricity utility said 8,400 people were without power.

Our reading: flights, school runs and the working day can change at short notice, so leave slack in any travel booked for the season.

Preparing a home and a household

The MMS and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre (NDRRMC), part of the Prime Minister’s Office, publish checklists that overlap. Together they say:

The building. The house should be in good condition and able to withstand cyclone gusts: check the roof, doors, windows and yard drainage, trim branches that could damage the house or the telephone and electricity lines, clear loose material, and find a secure place for any boat.
The plan. Know the nearest cyclone refugee centre or evacuation shelter and the safest route to it, agree a family meeting place, and keep your phone charged. Follow Police and local authority instructions and do not ignore warnings. If you leave in a flood or cyclone, switch off gas, electricity and water first.
The kit. A battery radio and torch with spare batteries, candles and matches, drinking water and purification tablets, non-perishable food with a can opener and a stove with enough gas, a first aid kit and essential medicines, hygiene items and anything an infant or child needs, clothes in plastic bags, blankets, basic tools and rope, masking tape for windows, a list of emergency numbers, identification and important papers, and some money.

If you are choosing a home, put the same questions to the landlord, and ask whether the plot floods in heavy rain: at Class III the MMS tells households to avoid areas prone to storm surge and flooding. For the wider choice, see renting in Mauritius and our where to live page.

During a warning, and afterwards

Once Class IV is in force, the MMS says to stay inside in the safest part of the house, disconnect electrical appliances and keep listening to bulletins. The FCDO adds that during a cyclone you are not allowed to leave your accommodation, and that car insurance policies often become invalid, so read your own policy before the season.

The MMS warns against assuming the storm is over when the eye passes: the calm is always followed by violent winds from the opposite direction.

Afterwards, stay in shelter until the relevant authorities give the all-clear, and watch for fallen power lines, damaged buildings and trees, and flooded watercourses. The MMS also says not to eat fallen fruit, to boil drinking water, and to clear the yard and drain stagnant water against mosquitoes and disease.

Torrential rain, floods and high waves

A torrential rain warning follows observations that rainfall has reached 100 mm in a region, or is likely to within the next hour, with the rain expected to continue. The MMS says this can cause flash or urban floods in any locality, most likely as water collecting in flood-prone areas, and can make streams and rivers overflow, with floods often downstream where it may not be raining hard. Landslides on hill and mountain slopes are a further risk afterwards. The warnings are general, not site-specific, and give no river levels; bulletins go out at regular intervals on MBC and private radio.

The precautions are plain: keep schoolchildren indoors, stay away from flooded rivers, streams and overflowing bridges, avoid long vehicle trips in flood-prone areas, and never cross a flooded bridge or submerged area on foot or by vehicle. In flood-prone areas, secure belongings and leave if the water keeps rising. The FCDO adds that some areas are prone to landslides, especially during cyclones and torrential rain, and that local authorities may organise evacuations. It says the MMS has 5-stage landslide warnings; we did not find that system on the MMS pages we read.

High waves have a system of their own. The MMS warns of heavy swells from far away, or the storm tide of a distant storm, and aims to issue a special communiqué about 12 hours ahead as far as practicable. Storm surge, an abnormal rise of water above the predicted tide, is covered by warnings issued when a storm is close, usually folded into the cyclone warning. For a high waves warning, the MMS advises keeping off the beach and out of the sea, and securing all boats.

Frequently asked questions

When is cyclone season in Mauritius?

The Mauritius Meteorological Services gives the official cyclone season as 1 November to 15 May, the period when the risk of tropical cyclone formation is highest. Summer runs from 1 November to 30 April, and the MMS notes that tropical storms may form and be named outside the official season.

What do the cyclone warning classes mean in Mauritius?

Class I is issued 36 to 48 hours before gusts of 120 km/h are expected. Classes II and III are timed to leave, as far as practicable, 12 and 6 hours of daylight before those gusts. Class IV applies once such gusts are recorded in some places and are expected to continue. A safety bulletin lifts Class III or IV, and a termination bulletin ends the sequence.

How often does Mauritius get a cyclone?

We found no official yearly count. The MMS list of historical cyclones has 44 entries from 1892 to 2007, five of them giving the nearest distance as over Mauritius, but it does not say how entries were chosen, so it cannot be read as a rate. News reports describe Class III warnings for Freddy in February 2023 and Belal in January 2024, and a Class IV warning for Belal.

How many cyclones are expected in Mauritius in 2026-27?

The MMS outlook of 27 October 2026 expects between five and seven named storms across the whole South West Indian Ocean basin, an area far larger than Mauritius. It says named storms will not necessarily affect the islands directly, and that the outlook may be updated.

Sources, checked 28 October 2026

Most of these are pages from the Mauritius Meteorological Services, the national disaster centre and the FCDO; the last three are news reports of past storms, marked as secondary because they describe what happened and set no rule.

Cyclone warning system (Mauritius Meteorological Services): classes I to IV, safety and termination bulletins.
Cyclone precautions (Mauritius Meteorological Services): what to do before, during and after each class.
Seasonal outlook for summer 2026-2027 (Mauritius Meteorological Services, dated 27 October 2026): season dates, El Niño, named storms, rain and heat.
Cyclone names, season 2026-2027 (Mauritius Meteorological Services): the list of 26 names, dated 3 August 2026.
Climate of Mauritius (Mauritius Meteorological Services): seasons and the 1971 to 2000 rainfall averages.
List of historical cyclones (Mauritius Meteorological Services): 44 entries from 1892 to 2007.
Torrential rain warning system and precautions (Mauritius Meteorological Services): the warning criterion, hazards and broadcasts.
High waves warning system and precautions (Mauritius Meteorological Services): heavy swell and storm surge warnings.
Emergency kit (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre, Prime Minister’s Office): household plan and kit contents.
Mauritius travel advice: safety and security (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, updated 19 October 2026): cyclone season, conduct during a cyclone, landslides.
Mauritius grounds flights as it braces for Cyclone Freddy (Al Jazeera, 20 February 2023, secondary): Class III warning, flights and stock exchange.
Floods hit Mauritius as tropical cyclone approaches (EWN carrying AFP, 15 January 2024, secondary): Class III warning for Belal and the closures that followed.
Mauritius on maximum cyclone alert as Belal wreaks havoc (Free Malaysia Today carrying AFP, 16 January 2024, secondary): maximum warning, airport, curfew and power cuts.

General information only, not safety, insurance or legal advice. Warning procedures and official pages can change, and bulletins issued during a storm take priority, so check the MMS and the other official pages above and follow the authorities when a warning is in force.