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STORMS

Northwest Spain issued ‘red alert’ as Storm Domingos roars towards coast

Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria have all been issued 'red alerts' as Storm Domingos is expected to make landfall in Spain on Saturday afternoon. Strong winds and storm surges pose a risk to residents of these areas.

Published: 4 November 2023 12:03 CET
Huge waves and strong winds are set to hit northwestern Spain on Saturday as Storm Domingos makes landfall
Huge waves and strong winds are set to hit northwestern Spain on Saturday as Storm Domingos makes landfall. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)

After the battering of Storm Ciaran, which left at least one woman dead after being struck by a tree in Madrid, Spain now faces renewed threat. 

Storm Domingos, given its name by the Spanish meteorological agency, is set to hit the country on Saturday afternoon with Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria in the northwest of the country set to be most affected. 

The worst of the storm will be felt on Saturday according to Rubén del Campo, said spokesperson for the national meteorological agency.

He told El País that there would be “very strong gusts of wind in the north, centre and east of the Peninsula and in the Balearic Islands, especially in coastal and mountainous areas, where they can exceed 100 km/h.”

Residents in the northwest of Spain are advised to avoid going the coast, where waves will reach up to 11 metres in the northwest. Del Campo also urged people in these areas to avoid passing under objects that could collapse, like cranes, scaffolding and trees. 

The storm will begin subside on Sunday, moving towards the North Sea. Next week Spain can expect more stable weather conditions. 

READ MORE: Storm Ciarán’s 150km/h winds cause havoc across Spain

During the week Storm Ciaran broke a number of wind speed records in various parts of Spain including Almería and Segovia. It also fanned wildfires in the Valencia region. Scientists say that climate change is likely to exacerbate extreme weather events in the future. Warmer air holds more moisture meaning that the rainfall generated during storms is likely to get heavier as global warming continues.  

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WEATHER

Will this summer in Spain be as hot as the previous two?

2023 was the world’s hottest summer on record, with many countries including Spain experiencing scorching temperatures. What are meteorologists forecasting for summer 2024?

Published: 16 May 2024 11:05 CEST
Updated: 18 May 2024 07:44 CEST
Will this summer in Spain be as hot as the previous two?

2023 was in fact the second-hottest summer Spain had ever experienced – the hottest being just one year earlier in 2022.

During that year, 11,300 people died in Spain alone due to the abnormally high temperatures, marine life perished in the warming seas and even train tracks warped and became deformed.

All eyes are looking toward this summer to see what will happen and if it will be as roasting as the previous two. 

READ ALSO:

According to the climate service Copernicus-EU, above-normal temperatures are predicted across southern Europe this summer.

And in Spain, there is a 50-70 percent chance that this summer will be one of the hottest 20 percent on record, and it will properly begin in June.

According to Spain’s State Meteorological Agency AEMET, we have already seen an abnormal rise this May.

Its quarterly prediction, which will take us up to the end of July (typically the hottest part of the summer here in Spain), states that it will almost certainly be warmer than usual on the Mediterranean side of the country, as well as the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Copernicus agrees with these predictions and has indicated that it’s very likely to be hotter than normal in certain areas of the country. It particularly singled out the Valencia region, Murcia (except the south), northern Almería and Granada, Ibiza and Formentera and the western Canary Islands.

It’s getting more and more difficult to know exactly what ‘above normal’ temperatures are, considering what Spain has experienced the last few years, but the reference period that many experts are basing their predictions on is from 1991-2020.

When it comes to rainfall, Copernicus has forecast that the “most likely scenario is a summer with less rain” than usual.

AEMET agreed with the prediction, stating on its X account that “most likely rainfall will be less throughout the country than what is already normally scarce in the summer season”.

This is bad news for many parts of Spain, such as Catalonia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands, which have already been experiencing an ongoing drought over the past two years.

Luckily, spring rains have managed to fill reservoirs just enough to see us through the summer at this point, but more rain will definitely be needed come autumn.

READ ALSO: Will drought restrictions affect summer holidays in Spain?

While scientists agree the sizzling temperatures experienced over the past few summers are down to climate change, last year in 2023, the cyclical phenomenon known as El Niño also had a part to play in global weather patterns.

When the seas become cooler on average and it has a cooling effect on the planet, this is partly down to the effect of La Niña.

This year is supposed to be dominated by La Niña and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US, La Niña has a 49 percent chance of developing between June and August and a 69 percent chance between July and September.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that this summer will be cooler than last year.

As of May 16th 2024, we’re undergoing a neutral period known as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Despite the global cooling effect of La Niña in 2022, it was still the planet’s sixth hottest year and the hottest in Spain ever recorded.

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