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Spain shovels its way out of heavy snow dumped by Storm Filomena

Emergency crews have cleared 500 roads and rescued more than 1,500 people stranded in vehicles.

EMERGENCY CREWS IN central Spain have cleared 500 roads and rescued more than 1,500 people stranded in vehicles as the country slowly shovels its way out of its worst snowstorm in recent memory.

After recording 20 inches of snow in the Spanish capital between Friday night and Saturday, Madrid and a large swathe of the country remained impassable, with roads, rail lines and air travel disrupted by Storm Filomena. The blizzard has been blamed for four deaths.

Transport minister Jose Luis Abalos said by Sunday crews had cleared two runways at Madrid’s Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas International Airport and, weather permitting, service would slowly return sometime between Sunday evening and Monday. 

Trains traversing the capital were to start gradually coming back online Sunday afternoon, Mr Abalos said, but the important high-speed line linking Madrid with Barcelona remained out of operation.

More than 150 roads were still impassable on Sunday. Authorities said all trips by car should be postponed and tyre chains were obligatory for journeys that could not be avoided. They said all people trapped in their cars by the snow had been rescued but hundreds of cars needed to be recovered after being abandoned by drivers.

Storm Filomena has lost strength as it moved eastwards but authorities are still urging people to remain at home to limit the risk of falls on icy streets as a cold front moves in.

“The danger is not over,” said interior minister Fernando Grande-Markaska. “A week of extreme cold is coming and that will transform all the snow on the ground into ice, thereby multiplying the risk. The storm is bringing with it a cold wave that could push temperatures down to record levels.”

 

Spain’s weather service forecasts temperatures to drop as low as minus 14C (6F) in the eastern province of Albacete by Tuesday.

The sparsely populated province of Teruel remained under red alert for intense snowfall, while large areas of eastern Aragon and Catalonia also were under alert with wintry weather.

Army emergency brigades have focused on clearing access to Madrid’s main fresh food distribution centre and to hospitals, as Spain also grappled with its coronavirus crisis, with infections on the rise following the Christmas holidays.

Mr Grande-Marlaska said the government will take extra steps to ensure that the country’s weekly shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday can be distributed to regional health authorities via police-escorted convoys.

Spain has seen more than 51,800 confirmed virus deaths in the pandemic.

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    Mute Mattress Dick
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    Jan 10th 2021, 3:52 PM

    Global warming?

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    Mute Gary Mullen
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    Jan 10th 2021, 3:55 PM

    @Mattress Dick: No, just a snow storm on spain that’s all.

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    Mute Lorna McC
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    Jan 10th 2021, 4:14 PM

    @Mattress Dick: Madrid is the highest capital city in Europe (besides Andorra) and is on the Meseta plateau, so snow is not unusual

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    Mute Dale G-t
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    Jan 10th 2021, 4:28 PM

    @Mattress Dick: Correct. Global warming leads to increased sea temperatures leading to more evaporation and storms, thus more extreme events.

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    Mute Fira Fitipidis
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    Jan 10th 2021, 4:48 PM

    @Lorna McC: Snow is unusual in Madrid capital, although not in the province. The last time Madrid capital had problems due to a snowfall was January 2009. One thing is Madrid city and another thing the Guadarrama Sierra mountains, 55 km away from Madrid capital.

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    Mute D.B
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    Jan 10th 2021, 5:40 PM

    @Lorna McC: no, of course snow is not unheard of but this is the worst in decades.

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    Mute D.B
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    Jan 10th 2021, 5:42 PM

    @Lorna McC: also—– -10ºC in Madrid, “something that’s really never been seen before and that only happened on one occasion in the last 100 years,”

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    Mute Kevin Burke
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    Jan 10th 2021, 8:23 PM

    @Mattress Dick: warming at the poles melts ice which leads to desalination of the ocean which weakens the gulf stream. Also warming at the poles displaces cold polar air and pushes it away from the poles, hence global warming causes unseen cold temps at Mediterranean latitudes

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    Mute Liam Tighe
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    Jan 11th 2021, 3:28 PM

    @Lorna McC: it’s the Tom Jones effect.

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    Mute Conor Noonan
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    Jan 10th 2021, 4:16 PM

    A snow news day .

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    Mute Terry Tibbs
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    Jan 10th 2021, 5:12 PM

    journal.ie not the greatest with pictures on a lot of news stories they cover ..

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    Mute Modern Irish Dad
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    Jan 10th 2021, 8:22 PM

    @Terry Tibbs: sell it too them Terry

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    Mute Clurichaun
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    Jan 10th 2021, 8:34 PM

    Inches? Why are you using the imperial system? Come on ! Britan no longer rules the waves! Use the metric system!

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    Mute The world outside the M50
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    Jan 10th 2021, 9:40 PM

    @Clurichaun: Copy and Past with no proofreading.
    Some of us remember the old units as well.
    20 inches of snow / 50 cm of snow

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    Mute David Jones
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    Jan 10th 2021, 6:05 PM

    I guess the rain in Spain did not land mainly on the plain.

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    Mute The world outside the M50
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    Jan 10th 2021, 9:40 PM

    *Paste

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