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STORM

In Pictures: Wild storm hits Canary Islands

Thousands of islanders have been left without power, dozens of roads have been cut off due to flooding, winds have reached up to 120km/hour and a total of 3,922 lightning bolts have hit the archipelago in a single morning.

Published: 11 December 2013 15:56 CET
In Pictures: Wild storm hits Canary Islands
The storm reaches Tenerife's Orotava Valley. Photo: Twitter

Thousands of islanders have been left without power, dozens of roads have been cut off due to flooding, winds have reached up to 180km/hour and a total of 3,922 lightning bolts have struck the archipelago in a single morning.

The Canaries’ westerly islands — Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro — have continued to bear the brunt of a storm which has so far left 3,500 homes without electricity.

The combination of strong winds and heavy rainfall has had a particularly severe effect on the south of Tenerife, where most of the island’s tourism industry is based.

Sixteen flights from Reina Sofía Airport have been cancelled and most maritime connexions between the islands have been paused until the storm abates.

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The downpour has been so great in some parts of Tenerife that up to 60 litres per square metre have fallen in a single hour.

Here are some of the most shocking photos tweeted by Canary residents over the past few hours:

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CLIMATE

Four dead as storms, floods and tornadoes wreak havoc across northern and central Italy

High winds, tornadoes and giant hail: extreme weather hit many parts of Italy's north and centre-north this weekend, leaving at least four holidaymakers dead and causing widespread damage. Weather alerts continue over the coming days.

Published: 31 August 2020 09:28 CEST
Four dead as storms, floods and tornadoes wreak havoc across northern and central Italy
File photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP

Severe weather has been reported over the weekend everywhere  from South Tyrol down to the central region of Lazio around Rome, with at least four people killed in two separate incidents, and several reported missing.

In Tuscany, two girls aged three and 14 were reportedly killed on Saturday night when a tornado reportedly uprooted a tree which hit their tent at a campsite in Marina di Massa.

Two German tourists were killed on Sunday night during severe flooding on the Brenner state road near Bolzano, South Tyrol, the Ansa news agency reports. A family car collided with a lorry, killing two of the passengers; a 45-year-old father and 67-year-old grandmother. A seven-year-old boy and his grandfather reportedly survived, while the lorry driver was unhurt. 

The vehicles had been diverted onto the local road when the motorway was closed due to storms. The motorway has now reopened on Monday, however train lines in the area remain closed.

A 38-year-old man has been reported missing in the Varese area after being swept away by a swollen river.

The city of Verona is bracing for further flooding after being hit by multiple waves of bad weather since August 23rd, with high winds and giant hailstones also causing considerable damage in the area.

Severe damage was reported across much of the Veneto region, with the Vicenza and Belluno areas also hit particularly hard. The famed ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in Belluno suffered landslides due to strong winds and heavy rain.

In the Vicenza area of Veneto a tromba d'aria (small tornado) flattened trees, fences and road signs and damaged buildings.

The bad weather reached neighbouring Lombardy with hailstones “the size of eggs” reported in Cremona and Mantova, and heavy rain and flooding in Alessandria.

And in Bergamo, firefighters had to clear roads made impassable by severe hail.

Meanwhile in parts of the south, fire crews have been battling blazes in woods and scrubland from southern Tuscany and Marche to Sicily after a hot, dry summer. 
 
Italy's Civl Protection department continued to issue weather warnings on Monday with orange (level two) alerts in place for Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige and Lazio.
 
 
Lower-level yellow alerts were also issued for Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Tuscany.
 
With the wave of bad weather expected to spread south over Monday and Tuesday, yellow alerts were also issued for the regions of Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Molise, Puglia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria on Monday.
 

 

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