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Weather warning: 15 Spanish regions on alert for snowstorms, gales and avalanches

The Local (news@thelocal.com)
The Local ([email protected])
Weather warning: 15 Spanish regions on alert for snowstorms, gales and avalanches
Vehicles remain stuck in A1 highway due to a heavy snowfall near Burgos, northern Spain, on March 8, 2021. (Photo by Cesar Manso / AFP)

Temperatures dropped across Spain on Wednesday with 15 regions were placed on alert for strong wind, snowstorms and avalanches, according to the National Meteorological Agency (AEMET).

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Fifteen out of the country's 17 autonomous communities were put on risk for snowstorms, rain and avalanches, seven of which were on orange alert: Andalucía, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country.

Heavy snowstorms are expected in the north of the peninsula in the Cantabrian mountain range.

On Tuesday Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) called on residents in the northern half of the country to "avoid all trips by road that are not essential," and return early from the puente (long weekend) marked by the public holidays of December 6 and 8, ahead of heavy snow forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

The DGT also warned that in 24 hours there could be between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow.

So far 58 roads and ports are affected by the weather in the north of the peninsula, especially in Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y León. The DGT has called for caution when driving on the A-67 in Cantabria, the AP-66 in Asturias and the A-6 in Castilla y León.

In Madrid, tyre chains are obligatory on the M601.

Heavy rainfall is expected in Galicia, extending to Cantabria and the western Pyrenees.

Temperatures as expected to fall considerably in the north due to the arrival of an anticyclone, with winds of more than 80 km/hour in the Cantabrian Sea.

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A slight increase in temperatures will increase the risk of avalanches in the Pyrenees and the central Cantabrian mountain range.

Some roads in the north of the country are already being affected by snow and are being restricted to some traffic such as trucks and heavy vehicles.

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