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Flights cancelled as Spain hit by aftermath of Hurricane Kirk

Conor Faulkner
Conor Faulkner - conor.faulkner@thelocal.com
Published: 9 Oct, 2024 CET. Updated: Wed 9 Oct 2024 13:11 CET
Flights cancelled as Spain hit by aftermath of Hurricane Kirk
In parts of the Basque Country, winds of up to 189km/h have been recorded. Photo: JOSE JORDAN/AFP.

With the worst still to come, strong winds from the tail end of the downgraded Hurricane Kirk have caused significant damage and cancelled flights in parts of Spain.

The ex-hurricane ‘Kirk’ slammed into Spain this morning with winds of up to 190km/h in parts of the country.

As the tail end of the hurricane approached Europe, it was downgraded to a storm but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t caused chaos in some areas of Spain, with flights cancelled, trees and billboards blown over, and schools closed.

As of midday, practically all of Spain except the Canary Islands is on alert for strong gusts of wind and rough seas along the coast, with waves of up to 7 metres forecast and heavy rain which could see 100 litres/m2 in just 12 hours.

As the former hurricane makes landfall in Spain, it seems to be primarily impacting the north of the country.

The regions most affected so far are the Basque Country and Galicia, with strong winds also reported in Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and León, Navarre, and La Rioja, which are all on orange alert (significant risk), according to Spain's state meteorological agency Aemet.

In the rest of Spain, Valencia, Murcia, Madrid, Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia are on the lower yellow alert for strong winds between 70 and 100 km/h.

Aemet posted on its Twitter/X account: "Wind, waves and rain due to the passage of the ex-Kirk storm. Its effects will already be felt in the evening on Tuesday, but the worst day will be Wednesday."

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Northern Spain suffering the most

In the north, weather alerts were already activated on Tuesday following strong winds throughout the day. With the worst still to come, there’s already been significant damage in parts of Galicia and the Basque Country this morning.

In Vizcaya, in the Basque Country, wind caused up to 40 incidents overnight. In just four hours on Wednesday morning, 81 further incidents were reported. In Orduña, gusts of up to 189 km/h have been recorded.

Bilbao Fire Brigade carried out a total of 20 interventions overnight, and in Gipuzkoa province, local authorities have suspended all outdoor school sports activities this afternoon.

In Vigo, in the northwestern region of Galicia, billboards and trees have been blown over, and there’s also been some localised flooding according to local media reports.

Several trees were blown over on Santiago's university campus this morning, damaging cars. 

Emergency services attended 371 incidents and received more than 3,000 calls during the first hours of the storm in Galicia.

In Asturias, city councils in Oviedo and Avilés have closed several local parks as a precautionary measure.

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Cancelled flights

The strong winds in the Basque Country have so far forced four flights to be diverted from Bilbao airport. Another has been cancelled.

These included a plane from Alicante that was turned away and had to return as it was unable to land, as did another from Barcelona, which was returned to El Prat.

Between 8.15am and 8.30am, there were two other diversions, one from Málaga, which landed in Asturias, and the other from Madrid, which returned to the capital.

A flight from Vienna was the only one that was able to land at Bilbao airport this morning, at around 9.25am.

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