Alert in five communities due to heavy snowfall that may affect roads | Spain

The entry of an air mass of arctic origin into the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, with a marked temperature drop and possible snowfall in the northern area, and road closures in the autonomous communities of Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra and the north and east of Castilla y León, together with the province of Huesca. has asked drivers to check the weather forecasts and the state of the roads before starting a trip, since these snowfalls can affect both main and secondary roads.

The report from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) states that snowfall may begin as early as Wednesday night, but that the biggest problems are expected for the last hours of Thursday the 20th and the morning of Friday the 21st. Traffic has given a list of the highways and highways—high-occupancy roads—that may be affected by these snowfalls. These are the AP-66 (Asturias and León), the N-630 (Asturias-León), the N-621 (Cantabria-León), the A-67 (Cantabria), the AP-68 (Bilbao-Zaragoza), the AP-1 (Burgos-Irun) and the A-15 (Navarra).

The DGT has also recalled the need, if you are going to drive through those areas with heavy snowfall, to have all-weather winter tires installed, or to have chains in case their use is necessary. To find out about the state of the roads, you can go to the usual Traffic channels on their social networks: X @DGTes and @informacionDGT; on its website www.dgt.es and by calling 011. They are also available to traffic information providers (navigators) at the national traffic information access point (https://nap.dgt.es/).

Those responsible for Traffic do not rule out taking some measures to guarantee circulation and road safety, such as restricting circulation to heavy vehicles, prohibiting passage, limiting the speed of circulation and prohibiting overtaking, carrying out total preventive cuts and establishing the obligation to use alternative detours.

“Traffic also has the 32 automated and monitored detours on different roads ready for operation to bag trucks, to activate them if necessary due to the winter road conditions that arise,” the DGT reported.

Among the recommendations of the DGT, it stands out that the way should be allowed to maintenance workers and that traffic safety be guaranteed. To this end, it has listed some basic rules such as leaving the left lane free to allow the passage of road maintenance vehicles and snow plows, paying attention to the signs on the light panels and taking extreme caution when traveling through the areas and roads affected by this forecast and knowing the colors of the snow and its driving conditions.

To manage and regulate traffic in these episodes of winter traffic, the DGT has eight Traffic Management Centers active 24 hours a day, from where actions are coordinated on the road network in their areas of influence through the equipment and means they have and which allows knowing the state of traffic and