MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish capital of Madrid and much of the neighboring region of Castilla-La Mancha on Friday were on high alert for what meteorologists expect to be the heaviest snowfall in decades caused by Storm Filomena.
Such events are rare in the region and tend to disrupt daily life and mobility, at a time when people return home after the Christmas and New Year holidays. This year, however, there is less traffic than usual due to restrictions to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
When heavy snow fell, authorities said major parks in Madrid, including the famous Retiro next to the Prado Museum, would be closed from Friday afternoon as a precaution.
With a snow forecast of up to 20 cm (almost 8 inches) in 24 hours and the temperature expected to hover around zero degrees Celsius for most of the day, the south of the Madrid region, including the capital, is at its highest level. alertness for the first time since the system was created in 2007.
Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency, said the city was likely experiencing the heaviest snowfall to date in the 21st century.
“Perhaps we should go back to the February 1984 snowfall or the March 1971 snowfall to find similar precedents if the predictions we expect are correct,” he added.
Light snow covered Madrid on Thursday, a day after Spain recorded the lowest temperature ever on the Iberian Peninsula, at -34.1C, in the Pyrenees to the north.
Storm Filomena is advancing through Spain after it hit the Canary Islands with strong winds and rain.
On Gran Canaria, a ferry with 59 passengers and 17 crew members ran aground on Thursday evening due to the strong winds entering the port of Agaete.
On Friday, the coast guard towed the ferry to port, with passengers and crew still on board, unharmed.
(This story corrects to the Spanish spelling of Filomena)
Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Cristina Sanchez, edited by Andrei Khalip and Gareth Jones