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WEATHER

Early snow sees November opening for Spain’s ski resorts

The first of Spain's ski resorts opened last week after a polar blast brought unexpectedly early snow.

Published: 18 November 2019 14:56 CET
Early snow sees November opening for Spain's ski resorts
Resorts across Spain's mountain ranges have already opened for the season. Photo: Formigal Aramon Resort

La Masella in Spain's eastern Pyrenean region became the first ski station to open in all of Spain, inaugurating the season last Wednesday with two lifts open.

Snow coverage of about 25cms was topped up by artificial snow machines at the resort in Girona region of Catalonia at the start of a season that is expected to last until Easter week in April next year.

The resorts of Astún (Huesca) and Punto de Nieve Santa Inés (Soria) also opened last weekend.

Formigal, a resort in the Aragon region of the Pyrenees, near the border with France, opened on Friday.

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With 25 pistes open offering 31 km of runs and in glorious sunshine, it was a great start to the season.

Nearby Panticosa opens on Saturday.

And so too does Candanchú (Huesca), which will open on November 23rd.

Slopes much further south on the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Granada are due to open this coming weekend.

The popular resort of Baqueira Beret, also in the Pyrenees will be opening on Saturday and is offering a discount to early skiers.

Skiers in Asturias will have to wait a little longer with the resorts of Pajares y Fuentes de Invierno not opening until Friday November 29.

The same goes for Espot Esquí and Port Ainé, in Huesca province of Aragon; Vallter 2000 and Vall de Núria, in Girona, Catalonia; Leitariegos and San Isidro, in the Picos de Europa in León; and the Sierra de Béjar-La Covatilla in Salamanca province.

A few resorts in Spain have yet to set the opening date.

Snow has been falling heavily in Madrid’s two resorts Puerto de Navacerrada and Valdesquí so it won’t be long before they are up and running. And the same goes for La Pinilla, just an hour north of Madrid over the border in Segovia province.

Slopes in AltoCampo (Cantabria), Javalambre-Valdelinares (Teruel), La Pinilla (Segovia), Lunada (Burgos), Manzaneda, (Ourense) Port del Comte (Lleida), Tavascá (Lleida), and Valdezcaray (La Rioja) have all yet to set an opening date.

READ ALSO: Eight amazing ski resorts in Spain

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WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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