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WEATHER

IN IMAGES: Huge hailstones pummel Spain as weather extremes continue

Instead of heatwaves over the weekend, large parts of southern and eastern Spain experienced intense storms with hailstones as big as tennis balls, in what's turning out to be a summer of extremes for the country.

Published: 26 August 2024 12:51 CEST
IN IMAGES: Huge hailstones pummel Spain as weather extremes continue
Storms with dangerously big hailstones are becoming more common in Spain (Photo by Thierry ZOCCOLAN / AFP)

It may be August, typically one of the hottest months in Spain, but over the weekend temperatures in many parts of the country plummeted by 10C and fierce hail storms bombarded several towns. 

A total of four regions in Spain have been put under orange alert for storms and heavy rains. These include the eastern part of Andalusia, Murcia and parts of Castilla-La Mancha and Aragón.

Some of the areas most affected were Murcia, Teruel and Cuenca in Castilla-La Mancha and the interior of the provinces Almería and Granada.

As well as intense rain, there have been severe hail storms, with hailstones measuring the same size as two euro coins or even bigger. 

In the province of Albacete in Castilla-La Mancha, a total of 40 litres of rain per metre squared fell in just a few hours. And in the town of Nerpio, the temperature dropped from 28C to just 15C. 

In the town of Bronchales in Aragón, after the hail storm, intense rain fell – up to 44 litres per metre squared. 

While in Cañada Juncosa in Castilla-La Mancha people were forced to take shelter in their homes from the huge pellets of ice. 

The Balearic Islands, which suffered destructive storms less than two weeks earlier, also reported stormy weather, with northeast winds of 40 to 50 km/h and waves of up to two metres on the island of Mallorca.

There has also been intense rain in the regions of Valencia and some parts of Catalonia. 

Hailstones are becoming increasingly large during storms in Spain as a result of climate change, a 2024 joint investigation by universities in Madrid, Valladolid and Seville concluded.

The combination of marine heatwaves with climate change can lead to massive amounts of convective energy in the atmosphere, which fuels the formation of supercells, huge rotating thunderstorms.

In 2022, a toddler died after being struck on the head by a hailstone with a 10-centimetre diameter during a violent storm in Girona, Catalonia. Hailstones of 12cm were found during that meteorological event, the biggest on record in the country.

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MADRID

Spain heatwave plans: Ski in a shopping centre when it’s 34C outside

They take off their flip flops and put on ski suits and gloves. Outside this Madrid mall, it's scorching, but at Snozone, customers are happy to ignore the summer heat -- and environmental issues.

Published: 22 August 2024 09:41 CEST
Spain heatwave plans: Ski in a shopping centre when it's 34C outside

An icy breeze in the lobby and a polar bear at the entrance plunge these summer visitors into another world at the Xanadu shopping centre 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Madrid.

Opened in 2003, Snozone has a 250-metre long ski slope covered in artificial snow, open 365 days a year.

Outside it is 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), but inside it is -3C (26F), and between a chairlift and a ski drag, about 30 skiers race down the slope watched by spectators.

Two hours of skiing costs about €40($44).

READ ALSO: Ten things to do in Spain when it’s too hot outside

French ski club visits

Members of the Carcassonne ski club in southern France have been coming here for seven years, says Thomas Barataud, an instructor at Les Angles ski resort in the eastern Pyrenees.

“We used to ski on the glaciers (in summer), but the climate has complicated that. Here you’ve got hard snow and cold weather, so the kids can keep skiing, which is good,” he said.

About 10 students who compete in skiing events are spending a week here doing slaloms on the section reserved for clubs, which has a hard and more technical surface.

“It’s not very environmentally friendly,” admits Barataud, 43. “But it’s what we’re looking for. We make do with what we have and this is a good alternative.

“When we leave at 4:00 pm, it’s a bit weird, because we are wearing shorts and flip flops,” he chuckles.

Student Cyrila Pena talks about the “heat shock when the sun beats down on you”.

The 18-year-old says being here is “fantastic”, but adds that some of her friends are surprised, asking her: “Aren’t you embarrassed to be skiing indoors?”

“If older generations had looked after the environment, we could have skied on the glaciers,” she retorts.

“But we have to ski indoors, because if we wait until December (to practice), it’s too late.”

Every year, 200,000 people come here — on a good day, they can have 1,800 customers.

Opened in 2003, Snozone has a 250-metre long ski slope covered in artificial snow and opens 365 days a year. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)

‘A fridge’

Peak season at Snozone is from October to March, says director Javier Villar.

“Those that come are beginners who go over what they know, or competitive teams from France, England, Spain and Andorra who come to train because there’s no snow in the mountains.”

He insists water consumption is much lower than at a gym, but the biggest cost is electricity at the 18,000-square-metre venue, the equivalent of 4.5 acres.

“It’s a fridge. If we had to turn it off and back on again, the electricity cost would be huge, that’s why we’re open all year round,” said Villar, 55.

The company bought solar panels, which was “very profitable, not only in terms of our carbon footprint, but also economically.”

Snozone, which belongs to Capital & Regional, a British retail property trust, also owns two indoor ski slopes in the UK: in Milton Keynes, just north of London, and Castleford, near the northern city of Leeds.

The world’s biggest indoor ski slope is Ski Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

On the ramp, snowboarder Izan Romano tries a trick. This 20-year-old bricklayer has a 600-euro annual pass and comes four or five times a week.

“Summer, winter, it’s all the same — there is always snow. It is my escape, I forget what is outside,” said Romano, who lives in Madrid.

“I came today because I was dying of heat at home. Some go to the pool, I take the car and drive to the snow.”

And what about the environment?

“What are you talking about? It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

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