The General Directorate of Emergencies and Interior of Galicia has sent an alert message through the Civil Protection system ‘ES-Alert’ to the population of the interior of Pontevedra due to the risk of flooding due to the intense rains expected for this Monday. A message that has reached mobile phones as a call to avoid unnecessary travel, stay away from rivers, torrents and flood zones. Extreme caution is also requested on public roads and highways.
The Xunta de Galicia has already activated the red warning for rain for this Monday and suspends classes and school transportation “for the entire day in educational centers and nursery schools in the interior of Pontevedra.” This was announced in a press release after explaining that there will be an “orange alert in the northwest, south and the Miño region of Ourense”, also along the entire Galician coast due to coastal storms. Due to the orange alert due to rain, activities outside educational centers in three areas of the province of Ourense: Northwest, Miño and South are also cancelled.
The situation as a result of the storm Ingrid It is improving, although there are 99 roads affected, of which 22 are completely closed in the secondary network and in 40 the use of chains or winter tires with speed restrictions and prohibition of circulation for heavy vehicles is mandatory. On the main network, greater caution is required at two points on the A-6, in Puerto del Manzanal (León) and on the A-52 in Ourense, between A Canda and A Gudiña.
The warning map places Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country in red level due to extraordinary danger of coastal phenomena, with waves that can exceed 10 meters. The Aemet stations in Santander and San Vicente de la Barquera have recorded wind gusts exceeding 115 kilometers per hour this Sunday. At 3:30 p.m., both towns were among the top six nationally: San Vicente de la Barquera, fifth, reached 117 kilometers per hour at 2:30 p.m., while Santander, in sixth position, has recorded gusts of 115 kilometers per hour.
The Government of Asturias has sent the population of 21 municipalities due to coastal phenomena. The Principality asks citizens to be careful when traveling and pay attention to security recommendations. The snow forces the use of chains in thirteen mountain passes of the regional road network in this community in which the passage through the ports of Connio and La Marta is closed, according to 112.
About thirty sections of road are affected. Chains or winter tires are necessary and the transit of trucks and articulated vehicles is prohibited on the N-330 in sections around the Candanchú station. The Navarrese Pyrenees are under a yellow warning this Sunday and Monday due to snow accumulation, according to the Aemet.
Likewise, in Cádiz the maritime connections by catamaran between the capital and the Cádiz towns of Rota and El Puerto de Santa María are suspended due to the storm. This interruption affects several exits of lines B-042 (Cádiz–El Puerto de Santa María) and B-065 (Cádiz–Rota). The measure is adopted due to the unfavorable evolution of the weather and in compliance with official predictions.
Until the service is restored, an alternative service will be made available to users, such as the road bus, as detailed by the UTE Catamaranes Bahía de Cádiz on the website of its transport consortium. It should be noted that the Aemet maintains the yellow warning for rain and waves in these areas of Cadiz.
The alert is decreed due to coastal phenomena in the Strait area, from 9:00 a.m. until the end of the day, due to a west or southwest wind of 50 to 60 kilometers per hour, with force 7. Meanwhile, in Grazalema a yellow warning has also been indicated for rain with an expected accumulated precipitation of 60 liters per square meter in twelve hours, from 8:00 a.m. to the end of the day.
In Granada, the Civil Guard carried out two rescues due to the storm this Saturday. Both took place in La Peña del Toro, in Sierra Seca, which belongs to the Sierra de Castril Natural Park. One of them went to a family of three adults and an 11-year-old child, who had been trapped with their vehicle in the snow when they were heading to the Prado del Conde shelter the previous afternoon. Apparently, “they had to spend the entire night without water or food.”
The Air Unit of the Civil Guard of Granada, together with two specialists from the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (Greim), moved to the scene. Finally, they were evacuated by helicopter in two flights to the Noguera heliport. This family warned that there were more people who did not know the whereabouts and with whom they lost contact due to the lack of coverage. The agents traveled on foot about three kilometers until they located two vehicles stuck in the snow with seven citizens inside.
Among them were two minors aged 12 and 15, and a 60-year-old adult with physical problems that prevented him from walking properly. The way back through the snow, with a height of between 30 and 50 centimeters thick and areas of ice, made the tasks difficult although they were able to reach the helicopter.
Greim has also rescued a family trapped by snow on a track at the wind farm near the town. The rescue took place at 9:10 p.m. this Saturday, when the Civil Guard alerted of the presence of a vehicle in which there were four people who could not leave the place on their own. They lacked adequate clothing to withstand the low temperatures.
In Catalonia, Civil Protection maintains the Special Emergency Plan for snowfall and risk of wind in the alert phase. Its road network suffers several cuts due to snow, ice and dangerous situations. and the forecast of winds of 72 kilometers per hour in much of the territory. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia has reported that the Atlantic disturbance snow episode will affect the regions of the western and central Pyrenees from early afternoon until noon this Monday.
Similarly, the Aemet has issued the yellow notice in Melilla, Almería, Valencia, Castellón, Alicante, Murcia, Girona and Tarragona due to wind and waves. In the Community of Madrid, the Civil Guard has cut off traffic on the M-601 from La Fonda Real to the Port of Navacerrada at 4:20 p.m. On Saturday, the special high-altitude rescue group of the Firefighters rescued two young people lost almost at night in El Espinar (Segovia). The couple had left Cercedilla and had mild hypothermia. The rescue lasted five hours.
Snow will continue to be the protagonist on this last Sunday of January with levels of 800 to 1,000 meters in the eastern third, while in the rest of the territory they rise between 1,100 and 1,500 meters. Snowfall will continue to affect high levels of the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian mountain range, as well as some mountain systems in the south.
Precipitation will intensify on the Cantabrian coasts, as well as in the Strait area and in the Betic mountains. Less notably, they are also expected in mountain areas and, in the afternoon, in the south of Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia. In the Balearic Islands, locally heavy showers are forecast with the possibility of a storm and isolated hail. Temperatures will rise, both minimum and maximum, with fewer frosts that could only occur in Castilla y León and Aragón.
