Heavy snowfall, of a magnitude unheard of for 50 years in Madrid, which had to close its airport, continued to fall on Friday evening over a large part of spain, disrupting traffic on nearly 400 roads.
According to the meteorological agency AEMET, which has placed the center of the country including the capital Madrid on red alert, this situation is “Exceptional” see “Historical”.
Very complicated situation at Madrid airport due to heavy snowfall.
A very large number of diverted flights to Barcelona, Valencia or Bilbao.
Late night mass cancellations. pic.twitter.com/N8dHAoOx7S
— air plus news (@airplusnews) January 8, 2021
Barajas International Airport in Madrid was closed “For security reasons”. “The work to clear the tracks continues and we hope to be able to resume service as soon as possible”, the airport tweeted.
If all flights from Madrid airport have been suspended, the plane carrying the Real Madrid team seems to have taken off despite these very difficult weather conditions.
This is what the pilot sees from the cockpit of the plane. pic.twitter.com/o3GGtPeHj1
– Real Madrid (@RMadrid_FR) January 8, 2021
400 roads disrupted
The snow disrupted traffic on nearly 400 roads, according to the transport authority. Hundreds of truckers were stranded across the country. Three hundred of them have already had to spend the night from Thursday to Friday in a parking lot near Cuenca (center).
In the capital, which had not seen such snowfall since 1971, children made snowmen or played all day long under palm trees covered with a white coat while passers-by, surprised, photographed these scenes. unusual.
– Snowball fight this morning for Real Madrid players in training. pic.twitter.com/kHPu6RZ0VS
– Paul Moutarde (@PaulMoutarde) January 8, 2021
The regions of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha (center) or Valencia (east) were the most affected by snowfall.
20 centimeters of snow expected on Saturday
According to AEMET, an average of 20 centimeters of snow is still expected to fall on Saturday in Madrid and the central plateau of the country and up to 50 centimeters could cover the highest areas in this area.
Rail traffic between Madrid and Valencia was also disrupted, according to the Renfe railway company.
The town hall of the historic city of Toledo or that of Albacete even had to ask the army for help to clear snow.
Falls from #snow persist and reinforce #Madrid now with several centimeters on the ground. This layer should strongly increase in the coming hours.
The pond of #Retirement takes on a very wintery look.
Video via @_ElRetiro pic.twitter.com/Q7LIym0TWI– Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) January 8, 2021
According to weather forecasts, storm Filomena, at the origin of this rare snowy episode, will move northeast on Sunday, which will lead to a decrease in snowfall even though temperatures will remain exceptionally low.
An unofficial national record of -34.1 ° C was recorded on Wednesday at more than 2,000 meters above sea level at the private weather station of Clot de la Llança, in the center of the Spanish Pyrenees.
– .
