Image source, Solarpix

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are set to confirm this morning why they are searching a reservoir in Portugal.

German and Portuguese police are at the Arade dam 50km (31 miles) from where the toddler went missing in Praia da Luz in 2007.

The search was requested by prosecutors in Germany as the area was visited by German national Christian Brueckner, who is considered a suspect in her disappearance, as he frequented the area at the time she went missing.

Read more here.

Daniel Sandford
Home Affairs correspondent, reporting from Portugal

Here at the Arade reservoir in southern Portugal, police can be seen getting ready to search the area.

Police divers were seen entering the water at the Barragem do Arade reservoir in Portugal this morning, as part of a fresh search into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

A police motor boat has been sent into the water with two officers on it, the PA Media news agency reported.

The reservoir is around 50km (31 miles) from Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing in 2007.

A statement from Policia Judiciaria, the national criminal investigation service of Portugal, said it was co-ordinating searches in the Algarve at the request of German police, and British officers are also present.

The main suspect in the case, convicted German sex offender Christian Brueckner, was living near the Praia da Luz resort when the McCann family was on holiday, and spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017.

Earlier this month, Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, held a vigil to mark the 16th anniversary of her disappearance.

They also marked their daughter's 20th birthday in May, vowing to "never give up" on finding her.

"Happy birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes," they said in a post on the official Facebook page of the Find Madeleine Campaign.

"We love you and we're waiting for you. We're never going to give up."

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

• 3 May 2007: The alarm is raised after Madeleine goes missing at a holiday complex in Portugal’s Algarve
• September 2007: Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann are made "arguidos" - formal suspects - in their daughter's disappearance
• July 2008: Portuguese police halt their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and another man, Robert Murat
• July 2013: Scotland Yard says it has "new evidence and new witnesses" in the case and opens a formal investigation into Madeleine's disappearance
• October 2013: Detectives in Portugal reopen the investigation, citing "new lines of inquiry"
• February 2017: Portugal's Supreme Court dismisses a long-running libel case against Goncalo Amaral, former head of the local police investigation
• April 2017: The only four official suspects investigated by police are ruled out of the investigation but senior officers say they are pursuing a "significant line of inquiry"
• March 2019: Netflix screens an eight-part documentary about Madeleine's disappearance. Her parents, who did not participate in the film, feel it could "potentially hinder" the police investigation
• June 2020: Police reveal that a 43-year-old German prisoner - named as Christian Brueckner - has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance
• April 2022: Christian Brueckner is declared an official suspect in the case - he has denied any involvement in her disappearance
• October 2022: Brueckner is charged in Germany with unrelated sexual offences that occurred between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal

Image source, Getty Images

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when she went missing on 3 May 2007.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry, had gone for dinner with a group of friends at a restaurant in the holiday apartment complex they were staying in on the night of her disappearance.

Madeline and her twin younger brother and sister were staying in the apartment, 100 yards away.

The group of adults had devised a rota system to check on all of the group’s children during the evening.

But when it was Kate’s turn, she discovered Madeleine had gone.

Her disappearance sparked a long-running missing person case spanning over 16 years. Madeleine's whereabouts remain unknown.

Image source, Credit: Solarpix

What we're expecting to get confirmed this morning is that police are carrying out searches at a remote reservoir in Portugal.

The Arade dam is 50km (31 miles) from where Madeleine went missing as a three-year-old in Praia de Luz in 2007. German authorities have not yet officially confirmed the police search, but have indicated media reports are correct.

Hans Christian Wolters, the state prosecutor in Braunschweig, has told the BBC a short statement of confirmation will be released this morning.

Rob Corp
Live reporter

Good morning.

We're bringing you live coverage of a new search for Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing in southern Portugal in 2007.

What we're expecting this morning is a statement from German prosecutors confirming that they are working with Portuguese police to search a reservoir some 50km (31 miles) from where Madeleine disappeared.

The Germans are involved because they have been investigating one of their nationals, Christian Brueckner, in connection with her disappearance.

British police are also present for the search.

We're expecting the German statement in the next hour - we'll bring you the latest developments as we get them.