Spain battens down the hatches ahead of rain, snow, wind and cold this weekend

José Antonio Guerrero

Madrid

Friday, 8 March 2024, 14:31 | Updated 14:57h.

Rain, wind, snow and cold... the weekend is set to arrive in Spain wrapped in a wintry atmosphere more typical of January than March, just two weeks before the start of the astronomical spring. At the moment, 13 regions are under a yellow or amber warning for rain, wind, snow or rough seas. They are Andalucía, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Castile y Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, Community of Madrid, Murcia, Navarre, La Rioja and Valencia.

According to the state weather agency (Aemet), widespread and heavy rainfall is expected this weekend, with snowfall in mountain areas and in lower altitude areas (between 700 and 1,000 metres), and above all strong gusts of wind, with stormy weather at sea in Galicia, where waves of up to seven metres are expected.

All of this will be accompanied by a drop in temperatures - in many parts of the interior of the mainland temperatures will be between 5 and 10C below normal - "which will leave a very cold atmosphere for the time of year", Rubén del Campo, Aemet spokesperson, pointed out.

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The most noteworthy feature of the weather this Friday (8 March) is the widespread rainfall, heaviest in the west and centre of the country and in parts of Aragon and Catalonia. Heavy snowfall is expected in the northern and central mountains, with accumulations of 10 to 20 centimetres of fresh snow. Snow will also fall in flat areas, at an altitude of between 700 and 1,000 metres in the north and between 1,000 and 1,200 metres in the south. The drop in temperatures and the strong wind sweeping the Spanish mainland "will increase the feeling of cold".

Saturday will be a day of rain throughout the mainland and in the Balearic Islands, although with less intensity in points of the Levante and the western Cantabrian. "The heaviest rains will be found in the west and centre of the country, as well as in the central and eastern areas of Andalucía, the east of Castilla-La Mancha, the extreme south of Aragon and the Pyrenees area", said Del Campo.

Once again, between 10 and 20 centimetres of fresh snow may accumulate in the mountains, and outside the mountainous areas it will also snow. "Not so much, but it will snow at an altitude that could drop to 600 or 700 metres in the northwest of the mainland; between 800 and 1,000 metres in the rest of the northern half and the central area, and up to 1,000 or 1,200 metres in the southern half of the country," the Aemet spokesperson explained.

On Sunday the storm will gradually weaken, but widespread rainfall will continue, although less heavy than on previous days. The heaviest accumulations will be in the Cantabrian Sea. Snow will continue to fall in the mountains, especially in the centre and north of the country, with snow levels rising from 1,000 to 1,400 metres. Temperatures will rise in most of the country, although the cold weather for this time of year will continue inland, except on the shores of the Mediterranean, where highs of up to 20C are expected.

According to Del Campo, after a small lull in adverse weather (there will be less cloud cover and temperatures will rise), a new Atlantic storm is expected on Wednesday next week with precipitation in large areas, less likely in the Mediterranean area and losing some intensity as the following weekend approaches.

Del Campo took stock of last month, which was the third warmest February since records have been kept since 1961, and behind only 2020 and 1990. Temperatures were 2.5C above the normal value for the month of February for Spain as a whole, but in some areas, such as the Canary Islands, the difference was up to 4C. In fact, February in the Canary Islands was the warmest February in the last 63 years.

In terms of rainfall, the month was generous in terms of rainfall, although it was not equally distributed. In mainland Spain as a whole, it reached 70mm, which is 135% of normal, but in the Mediterranean area and in the southeast it was once again a very dry month. This has been reflected in the level of the reservoirs: those in the internal basins of Catalonia are at 14.5% and barely store 98 cubic hectometres. Those of the Segura basin are at 18.9% and those of the Andalusian Mediterranean basin at 19.4%. Together with the Guadalete-Barbate reservoirs (17%), they are the only ones on the Spanish mainland that are below 20% of their capacity.