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IN PICS: Schools close, roads flood and trees felled as Spain battered by Storm Elsa

The Local Spain
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IN PICS: Schools close, roads flood and trees felled as Spain battered by Storm Elsa
Waves crash against a prominade in northern Spain. Photo: AFP

Spain was lashed by winds up to 130km at hour, torrential rain and massive waves as Storm Elsa wreaked havoc across the country.

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In Galicia schools were closed while in Huelva in the south, towns were flooded and in Valencia roads were blocked by fallen trees.  

Much of Spain was issued with orange weather alerts indicating significant risk by the state meteorological agency Aemet.

Galicia in the northwest of Spain bore the brunt of the storm as it rolled in off the Atlantic. Rivers burst their banks, schools closed and more than 1,000 incidents were reported to emergency services as a result of the storm.

The south west was also badly affected with footage showing floods in Huelva.

In cities across Spain on Thursday, including Madrid and Seville, authorities took the step of closing the public parks as there was a risk of falling trees and branches in the high winds. 

Elsa is the second of three storms destined for the Iberian Peninsula this week.

Early in the week, Storm Daniel hit and when Elsa passes it will be the turn of Storm Fabien.

Waves off the Atlantic coast and Cantabriam coast were predicted to reach up to 9 metres in height on Sunday, warned Aemet.

Temperatures were higher than normal for Christmas, AEMET said. 

Footage showed a rather tricky landing at Bilbao's airport:

 

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