Canary Islands weather: only Tenerife eases, other islands stay on orange

The orange-level severe weather warning for Tenerife has been lifted, leaving it the only island in the Canaries still on yellow. The severe weather situation across the archipelago is therefore changing: on all other islands, at least an orange-level warning remains in force on Wednesday. On La Palma, the AEMET has issued a warning of heavy rain; on El Hierro, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, the AEMET is warning of strong winds.

A yellow warning for wind is in force in the greater Santa Cruz and La Laguna areas from midnight until 17.59. The Met Office is forecasting gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour, particularly at medium and high altitudes. Between 2.00 pm and 5.59 pm, the same alert level also applies to the north as well as the east, south and west of the island. There, the wind will mainly affect the south-eastern slopes. From 10.00 until 7.59 on Thursday, the AEMET is also issuing an island-wide warning for rain of up to 15 millimetres in an hour. Thunderstorms are not ruled out by the agency, particularly in the north. It puts the probability at between 40 and 70 per cent in each case.

Along the coast, the AEMET is forecasting winds from the west to south-west of 50 to 61 kilometres per hour, which corresponds to wind force 7. A yellow warning for rough seas is in force on the north coast from 10.00 to 15.59, along the stretch of coast between Santa Cruz and La Laguna from 13.00 to 15.59, and on the eastern, southern and western coasts from 13.00 to 17.59. On Wednesday, the escalated warning situation in the Canary Islands initially placed every island on at least an Orange alert. On La Palma, the focus of the warnings has since shifted from wind to rain.

La Palma: Heavy rain hits the east particularly hard

An orange alert for rain is in force across the whole of La Palma on Wednesday from 10.00 am until midnight. The AEMET is forecasting up to 30 millimetres in one hour, particularly in Breña Baja, Breña Alta and Santa Cruz de La Palma. In the mountainous regions and in the east, a second orange warning is in force from 10.00 am to 5.59 pm, with up to 100 millimetres expected over twelve hours, mainly north of the Caldera de Taburiente. From 6.00 pm until midnight, a yellow warning is in force there, with up to 60 millimetres expected over twelve hours.

The AEMET has issued a yellow warning for the west of the island from 7 am until midnight, with up to 60 millimetres of rain expected over twelve hours. The AEMET has assigned a probability of between 40 and 70 per cent to all rain warnings for La Palma. As for the wind, a yellow warning remains in place across the island from 12 noon to 3.59 pm, with gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour, particularly on the mountain peaks, the north-western slopes and the eastern and south-eastern flanks. During the night, the AEMET upgraded the wind warning for La Palma to red.

An orange wind warning remains in force in the Canary Islands until late afternoon

On El Hierro, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, an orange alert is in force on Wednesday from 10.00 to 17.59 due to south-westerly winds. For El Hierro and La Gomera, the AEMET forecasts gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour, and for Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, up to 90 kilometres per hour. The weather service puts the probability at between 10 and 40 per cent and 40 and 70 per cent respectively. On El Hierro, the wind will mainly affect higher ground and the coasts at the eastern and western ends; on La Gomera, it will affect mid-altitude areas, the peaks and the coasts in the north-north-west and south-south-east. On Gran Canaria, the agency cites the mid-altitude areas, the north-west coast and large parts of the south-west coast. In the island’s mountain peaks, the wind may exceed the threshold. It will affect the whole of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, particularly on the north and north-west-facing slopes.

On Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, a yellow warning for rain of up to 15 millimetres in an hour is also in place from 10.00 until 11.59 on Thursday; on El Hierro and La Gomera, it remains in place until 4.59 on Thursday. The AEMET has not ruled out the possibility of thunderstorms, particularly on the eastern islands. A yellow warning is in place from 10.00 am to 5.59 pm along the coasts of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, as well as in the east, south and west of Gran Canaria, due to rough seas caused by force 7 winds; on the north coast of Gran Canaria, the warning is in place from 1.00 pm to 5.59 pm. Some stations on La Palma and La Gomera already recorded stronger gusts than forecast on Wednesday.

In the higher elevations of La Palma and Gran Canaria, rain and thunderstorms can trigger flash floods. The water then rushes through the barrancos all the way down to the coast, so particular caution is advised in and around the ravines.