Storm Francis is to reach its peak this Monday January 5th after bringing snow to Madrid and flooding in various towns across the Cádiz and Málaga provinces.
Havoc has been brought to several areas of Spain due to the recent storm. The Cádiz municipality of Jimena de la Frontera recorded more than 300 litres of rain per square meter in just 24 hours, while Torrox in Málaga, registered more than 200 litres. The town of Estepona, also in Málaga, saw severe flooding.
This past weekend, the storm also caused maritime traffic through Strait of Gibraltar to be suspended, along with the evacuation of nearly 500 homes near the Guadarranque reservoir in Cádiz. This was a precautionary measure due to the fact that the reservoir is currently at 99.83 percent capacity.
Just in time for the arrival of the Three Kings or Reyes this evening, January 5th, Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has forecast a drop in temperature across the country, accompanied by snowfall at low elevations in areas of the north centre, as well as rain in the southeast.
Many areas have been put on yellow alert today because of the storm, including provinces in western Andalusia, coastal Murcia, Valencia and the Balearics, almost all of Castilla-La Mancha, some areas in Madrid, much of Catalonia, as well of northern Castilla y León, Asturias and coastal Galicia.
The only two areas on orange alert today are the valley of Villaverde in Cantabria for snow and the Costa Brava in Catalonia for winds of up to 75km per hour and high waves, possibly reaching up to 7 metres in some places.
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The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has already reported several road sections closed or with restrictions due to snow and ice today, particularly on secondary roads in provinces such as Asturias, Granada, Almería, Huesca, León, Salamanca, and Navarra.
Some roads are still closed in Cádiz and Málaga due to the flooding.
In Madrid, there have been reports of traffic jams this morning because of the snow. In Catalonia, the snowfall has been less intense, but there have still been some problems on the roads on the A-2 between Barcelona and Lleida, the C-25 between Vic and Cervera, and the C-14 in Tarragona. Authorities have recommended extreme caution while driving and avoiding unnecessary travel during the coldest hours of the day.
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Because of this, the weather is due to affect Kings’ parades happening tonight across the country.
The town of Dénia in Alicante has cancelled its parade and will instead host a reception with the kings at the Centro Social. Parades will also be cancelled in San Fernando in Cádiz and Motril in Granada.
Other towns in Valencia such as Torrent, Orihuela and Torrevieja will also move their parades to Tuesday January 6th instead, actually on Three Kings’ Day.
In Oviedo in Asturias, the parade will still take place today, but it has been moved forward to 5pm, as is the case in Jaén in Andalusia as well.
In Spain’s two biggest cities – Madrid and Barcelona, the Kings’ parades are set to go ahead as normal at 6pm even though rain has been forecast.
