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WEATHER

IN IMAGES: Storm Ciarán’s 150km/h winds cause havoc across Spain

One person was killed in Madrid on Thursday as Storm Ciarán ripped through Spain with winds of up to 150km/h, causing flight and train cancellations, traffic hold-ups and dozens of trees pulled from the ground.

Published: 2 November 2023 16:49 CET
IN IMAGES: Storm Ciarán's 150km/h winds cause havoc across Spain
Storm Ciaran causes havoc across Spain. Photo: Glyn KIRK / AFP

It’s not just the UK and other parts of Western Europe that have been feeling the wrath of Storm Ciarán this Thursday, Spain has been battered by rains and gale-force winds too, causing chaos across the country.

Forty-eight of Spain’s 50 provinces (with the Canary Islands being the exception) have been placed on alert and the storm has already caused widespread chaos in many regions. 

In Madrid, a tree fell on the A2 motorway causing three kilometres of traffic jams.

Police in the Spanish capital have also confirmed the death of a young woman in the Alonso Martínez neighbourhood after a tree fell on her and injured three others.

Madrid firefighters attended 109 emergency calls on Thursday morning due to problems related to the strong winds and falling tree branches on the streets.

Railway operator Adif has suspended circulation on several railway lines across the country and set speed limits on others due to strong lateral wind gusts higher than 100 kilometres per hour.

Firefighters from Huesca have rescued three people and their pets from two cabins in Pyrenean village of Castiello de Jaca, due to flooding and intense rains.

Storm Ciarán has caused power cuts in the northwestern region of Galicia as well, with some 9,800 customers affected.

The ski resort of La Pinilla, in the province of Segovia, experienced the strongest wind gusts in the country so far this morning at 151 kilometres per hour, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) reported.

Strong winds also forced the cancellation of 13 flights from Bilbao airport. During the course of the morning, flights to or from Seville, London, Barcelona, Porto, Frankfurt, Madrid, Amsterdam and Munich stopped taking off or landing.

Falling branches and trees, along with the accumulation of water have forced the cancellation of several flights from Santiago de Compostela airport too.

The storm has left a trail of incidents in Galicia including 168 km/h winds in the mountains of Lugo, intense rainfall of more than 70 litres per square meter near Pontevedra and waves of almost seven metres in La Coruña. Train services have been suspended since November 1st between Ourense and Vigo and between La Coruña and Ferrol.

Storm Ciarán has been making its way up through Europe, also affecting much of France, the UK and the Netherlands. 

The storm battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km/h, causing a lorry driver to be crushed by a falling tree and some 1.2 million French homes to lose electricity overnight.

In Cornwall in southern England, large waves powered by winds of 135 km/h, crashed along the coastline on Thursday morning, while hundreds of schools across the region were closed.

On the Channel Island of Jersey, residents had to be evacuated to hotels overnight as wind gusts of up to 164 km/hour damaged homes, according to local media. 

And, the Netherlands also warned of powerful gusts of up to 100 km/h, with workers told to avoid commuting and 206 flights marked as ‘cancelled’ at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, a major European hub.

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WEATHER

2023 was second-hottest year on record in Spain

Spain endured its second-hottest year on record in 2023, which followed on from its hottest year ever since records began more than six decades ago, the AEMET weather agency said on Thursday.

Published: 30 May 2024 11:58 CEST
2023 was second-hottest year on record in Spain

Last year’s average temperature was 15.2 degrees Celcius (59.36 degrees Fahrenheit), which was 1.2C higher than normal, spokesman Ruben del Campo told reporters on unveiling the agency’s annual climate report.

“The average temperature in Spain has risen by more than 1.5C since 1961 with the hottest 10 years all occurring in the 21st century,” AEMET said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the year in which records began.

Last year also saw the warmest spring on record, and no month registered temperatures that were colder than normal, AEMET said, indicating nine out of 12 months were “warm, very warm or extremely warm”.

It was also the sixth driest year on record.

READ ALSO: Tenerife to call drought emergency as Spain struggles with water shortages

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