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WEATHER

Spain awaits first real snowfall of winter as flooding closes motorways

Weather alerts have been issued across Spain for rain, strong winds, waves, and even snow in parts of the northern peninsula.

Published: 27 February 2024 10:25 CET
Spain awaits first real snowfall of winter as flooding closes motorways
Two people walk in the snow after a snowfall in the northern Spanish Navarre village of Orreaga - Roncesvalles on January 10, 2024. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA / AFP)

Spain is braced for its first significant snowfall of the winter with regions across the country on alert for strong winds and rain, with snowfall and wave surges forecast in some northern regions.

Heavy rain overnight in the Basque Country caused several rivers to overflow, mainly affecting the Vitoria area, and drivers were rescued from two vehicles in Navarre.

Weather forecast for Tuesday February 27th in Spain. Image: Aemet

As of Tuesday morning every region of Spain, except Extremadura, remains on either a yellow warning (at risk) or orange warning (significant risk), for rains, winds, snow, or strong waves, according to forecasts from the state Meteorological Agency (Aemet).

The regions on orange alert are: Aragón, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and Leon, Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community.

Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia, La Rioja and the autonomous city of Melilla are on yellow alert.

Temperatures are set to fall almost everywhere in the country, except in the far west of the peninsula, and could even fall below zero in places such as Teruel, Ávila, Segovia and Palencia.

So far at least 72 motorways are affected by the weather, especially roads in Asturias, León, Cantabria, Palencia, Burgos and Lugo, according to this live traffic map by Spain’s Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT).

Much of the snow is forecast to fall in mountainous areas, with a metre of snowfall predicted in the Cantabrian mountains, the Pyrenees and the Iberian system at elevations of 700-800 metres. In the Sierra Nevada and other southeastern mountain ranges light snow is forecast from 900 metres.

In Catalonia, an orange alert has been activated in Lleida for snow above 1,000 meters and there is a risk of avalanches.

In the Valencian Community, an orange level warning has been issued in Castellón for gusts between 90-100 km/h, and large parts of the peninsula could see winds of 70-80km/h.

In the Canary Islands, the orange alert particularly affects La Palma with maximum gusts of 90 km/h forecast. Strong winds are also expected in El Paso, though are forecast to affect the majority of the islands and cause strong waves.

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WEATHER

‘Like summer’: Heat records for April already broken across Spain

Spain has had a scorcher of an April so far with heat records broken across the country, summery temperatures in the north, and the mercury up to 16C higher than normal in some parts.

Published: 15 April 2024 11:52 CEST
'Like summer': Heat records for April already broken across Spain

We may only be midway through April but Spain has already seen summer-like temperatures in many parts of the country, with record breaking temperatures and heat well above normal values for the time of year.

So far there have been 60 temperature records in April with more than 15 days of the month still to go.

It has been such a warm spring so far that the Spanish press have dubbed it primaverano – a portmanteau of spring (primavera) and summer (verano) in Spanish.

For their part, national weather agency Aemet have described the heat in the Canaries as that of “the middle of summer”. 

Records for both minimum and maximum highs have been broken one after another since the beginning of the month. The record breaking temperatures have been largely in the north, in particular around the Cantabrian Sea, though temperatures have topped 30C in parts of the south.

Temperatures reached 30C at 65 weather stations run by Aemet.

Bilbao, for example, recorded a minimum temperature of 20.1C at its airport, easily beating the previous April record of 17.8C all the way back in April 1949. San Sebastián airport station also beat its previous April record by almost 3C. 

Vigo and Ourense in the northwestern Galicia region and Vitoria in the Basque Country also beat heat records for April with temperatures above 30C.

The Fabra Observatory in Barcelona recorded 29.1C, smashing the previous record (recorded last year in 2023) by 1.6 degrees.

Meteorologist Alfons Puertas posted the record breaking news in a message on Twitter/X, stating: “ATTENTION! A few minutes ago #obsFabra just surpassed the maximum temperature record for April for the entire 1914-2024 series!! 29.1C (provisional) exceeds last year’s record by +1.6C!”

Record temperatures were also recorded in other northern regions such as Asturias and Cantabria.

In the rest of the country, record high minimum temperatures were recorded in provincial capitals including Salamanca, Guadalajara and Teruel.

But the heatwave hasn’t just been felt on the Spanish mainland. On the Canary Islands, April heat records were set in most of the islands, especially in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Tenerife and La Gomera.

The weather station at Tenerife South Airport recorded a staggering 38.3C April temperature.

Aemet posted on Twitter/X just how abnormal these April temperatures have been: “On Sunday 14th, temperatures were once again very high for the season in most of the country: between 7-15C above normal.”

Aemet also states that the record maximum highs around the country have been “among the 5 percent of the warmest temperatures recorded at this time of year,” adding that the abnormally warm Spring has brought summer temperatures to northern Spain.

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