Canary Islands: Wind warning to be followed by heavy rain

The Spanish Meteorological Agency AEMET has issued a red wind warning for La Palma due to gusts of up to 130 kilometres per hour. The red wind warning on La Palma is in force on Wednesday from 3.00 am to 11.59 am across the whole island; the weather service puts the likelihood of the event at between 40 and 70 per cent. The wind is coming from the south-west and will mainly affect the peaks, the north-western flank and the eastern and south-eastern sides of the island.

Tenerife is one level lower, at orange. Nevertheless, the Met Office does not rule out local gusts of more than 130 kilometres per hour on the mountain peaks; high-altitude areas and the coast in the far west are also affected. The orange wind warning has been in force since 9.00 pm on Tuesday and will end at 1.59 pm on Wednesday. It applies to the north as well as the east, south and west; the AEMET forecasts gusts of up to 110 and 120 kilometres per hour respectively in these areas.

On Wednesday, the Met Office initially placed all the islands on orange alert and only subsequently upgraded La Palma – as the sole island – to red. Even before the highest alert level came into effect, an weather station at Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma recorded strong gusts between Tuesday evening and the early hours of Wednesday. A second orange warning, this time for rain, comes into effect at 7 am whilst the red alert is still in place.

La Palma: Heavy rain follows red wind warning

The rain warning remains in force across the whole island until midnight. AEMET is forecasting up to 30 millimetres in one hour and up to 60 millimetres in twelve hours. From 12 noon to 3.59 pm, the wind warning is downgraded to yellow, with gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour on the same peaks and slopes as in the morning. An orange warning remains in place on the east and west coasts until 9.59 am, with westerly to south-westerly winds reaching 50 to 74 kilometres per hour there, which is force seven to eight. The east coast remains on yellow alert from 10.00 am to 12.59 pm with force seven winds.

The wind will also turn to rain on Tenerife this afternoon. A yellow warning is in place there from 2.00 pm to 5.59 pm, with gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour, particularly on the south-eastern slopes. A yellow warning is in place for the greater Santa Cruz and La Laguna areas from midnight until 5.59 pm; the warning mainly affects mid- and high-altitude areas. The Met Office expects rainfall of up to 20 millimetres per hour in the north, east, south and west from 7 am, and in the Santa Cruz and La Laguna areas from 12 noon, with a yellow warning in place in each case until midnight. A yellow rain warning for the Canary Islands had already been issued a few days earlier.

An orange alert is in force along Tenerife’s coastline until 12.59 pm for the greater Santa Cruz and La Laguna areas, as well as for the east, south and west, with winds of between 50 and 74 kilometres per hour. After that, the AEMET will downgrade the alert: a yellow alert will be in force in the greater Santa Cruz and La Laguna areas until 15.59 pm, and in the remaining areas until 20.59 pm. The north coast will be under a yellow warning from 7.00 am until 12.59 pm.

Wind warnings in the Canary Islands: Orange across all the islands

An ‚orange‘ warning is in force on Gran Canaria from midnight until 17.59 in the east, south and west, with gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour, particularly at medium altitudes and along large parts of the south-west coast. The mountainous regions and the north are also on orange alert from 7.00 am to 5.59 pm, with gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour, particularly on the mountain peaks. A yellow alert is in place for the whole island from 12 noon until midnight due to rain of up to 15 millimetres per hour. The north coast is on orange alert until 12.59 pm and on yellow alert from 1 pm to 3.59 pm; the AEMET has issued a yellow warning for the remaining coastlines until 3.59 pm.

El Hierro and La Gomera are on orange alert from 7.00 am to 5.59 pm due to gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour. On El Hierro, the areas most affected are the higher ground and the coasts at the eastern and western tips; on La Gomera, the mid-altitude areas, the peaks and the coasts in the north-north-west and south-south-east. A yellow warning for rain of up to 20 millimetres per hour is in place on both islands from 7 am until midnight. The AEMET has issued a yellow warning for the coast of La Gomera until 9.59 am, and for the coast of El Hierro from 7 am until 9.59 am.

Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are on orange alert from 6.00 am to 5.59 pm, with gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour, widespread and particularly on the northern and north-western slopes. The escalated warning situation in the Canary Islands is less likely to affect the eastern islands: the AEMET puts the probability there at 10 to 40 per cent, and at 40 to 70 per cent for all other warnings. A yellow warning for rain of up to 15 millimetres per hour will be in force from 5.00 pm until midnight. Yellow coastal warnings will apply from 7.00 am, until 3.59 pm on Lanzarote and until 12.59 pm on Fuerteventura.

If there is rain or a thunderstorm in the mountains of La Palma and Gran Canaria, torrents can form in the barrancos, flowing all the way down to the sea. There is therefore a particular danger in these gorges and on their edges.