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Winter finally arrives in Spain
By h.b.
Tue, 23 Jan 2007, 07:54
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Snow falls in a square in Palencia - Photo EFE
The Civil Protection Authority has now placed ten regions of Spain on alert for intense cold and heavy snowfalls, following the latest predictions from the National Meteorological Institute.
The ten areas on alert are Castilla y León, Navarra, Galicia, PaÃs Vasco, Cantabria, Asturias, Cataluña, Castilla La Mancha and Madrid. Temperaturas are set to fall to -7ºC overnight.
In AndalucÃa the Regional Government has issued its own warning for particularly low temperatures in Granada and the Sierra Nevada. The city is preparing for the snow with 36 snowploughs and 4,000 kilos of salt.
Some 50 mountain passes remain closed to traffic this morning, and around 300 lorries and 2 coaches were trapped in snow on the A1 road overnight. Conditions there are bad between the 30 and 110 km points, but the road is now open again.
The motorway at Burgos is closed to lorries because of the snow.
Traffic on the C-615 road between Palencia and Riaño - Photo EFE
The storm is expected to get worse from Wednesday when a new front of cold winds from the NE is forecast. This could take the snow into the centre of the country.
Temperatures are now not forecast to start to recover until Friday, although clear night time skies will see low temperatures overnight continuing into next week.