Snow chaos of the century in Spain: “Red alert” called - and the “guilty party” is clear

Heavy snowfall causes large parts of Spain to sometimes be chaotic.

In Madrid, drivers were stuck for hours.

• The weather is causing chaotic conditions in Spain.

• "Snow of the century" is reported in Madrid.

• The mayor urges citizens to stay at home.

Update from January 9, 2021, 3:40 p.m.:

Large parts of

Spain will

again be

hit

by extreme

snowfalls

on Saturday

, which sometimes force public life to shut down.

After the

airport

of Spain's capital

Madrid

and various train routes had to

close

on Friday

due to more than 60 centimeters of

fresh snow

, other areas will be affected at the weekend.

Weather chaos in Spain: bus traffic and garbage collection in Madrid stopped - new temperature record

Public

bus transport

in

Madrid was

also

discontinued.

Likewise, the garbage disposal that cannot move because of the enormous snow masses.

The last comparable

snowfall was recorded

in the Spanish metropolis in

1971 - exactly 50 years ago

.

Mayor José Luis Martinez-Almeida urged the population in a video on Twitter not to leave the house.

Because on Saturday

too, up to 20 centimeters of

fresh snow are

expected

in large parts of

Spain

.

The national

weather service

therefore called the center of the country a "red alert".

The trigger for the

weather chaos

is the storm "

Filomena

", which is supposed to move northeast on Sunday.

On Wednesday, “

Filomena

” also set a new unofficial

temperature record

.

According to this, -34.1 degrees Celsius were measured on a private weather station at an altitude of 2000 meters.

Snow chaos in Spain and Italy: some drivers are stuck for "more than 15 hours"

Initial report of 9 January 2021:

Madrid / Bozen - Because of a

polar vortex

-

Splits

are also in Germany extremely cold days and nights *.

But in southern Europe, a current onset of winter with sometimes massive snowfalls is causing chaotic conditions

.

In Madrid, for example, more than 60 centimeters of snow fell in places.

Weather chaos in Spain: Madrid is sinking in the snow

The storm "Filomena" caused a lot of fun in Madrid with heavy snowfall, but also chaos and fear.

On the motorway rings of the Spanish capital, a

blanket of snow more than 60 centimeters

thick stuck many motorists who had to spend part of the night in their vehicles - and on Saturday afternoon they still waited trembling for help.

"We have been stuck here for more than 15 hours, no one has brought us water, blankets or food,"

said Patricia Manzanares in a telephone interview on Spanish television.

She complained: "We don't get any information at all, and there is also a three or four year old girl in the car next to us."

The largest airport in Spain in Madrid also announced in the afternoon that operations would be suspended for the whole day.

The Madrid S-Bahn stopped operating until further notice, the Renfe railway company canceled many connections on Saturday.

In addition, several motorways and country roads were closed.

“The snow of the century paralyzes Madrid,” headlined the

ABC

newspaper

.

Snow mayhem in Madrid: it could get worse

Since Friday morning, thick white flakes fell continuously from the sky in Madrid.

The heavy snowfall should not stop there on Saturday around midnight.

Since Friday evening and until Saturday evening, the highest red alert has been in effect in the capital, but also in ten of the country's 50 provinces.

In the regions where there was no snow, "Filomena" brought severe weather *, strong gusts of wind, continuous rain and high waves.

Across the country, more than a hundred roads and highways were closed on Saturday.

Snow ensures a number of rescue missions in Italy too

Heavy snowfalls also resulted in numerous missions for the fire brigade in Italy.

Especially in the north of the country, the rescue workers had to clear roads and get broken down vehicles back on the road, as the fire brigade announced.

The snow also weighed on the roofs of many snow-covered places in the regions of Emilia Romagna and Lombardy.

In the village of Sappada in the northeast region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia near the Austrian border, the firefighters had to climb a church to shovel the snow from the roof of the church.

The fire brigade reported a total of around 200 snow missions from the regions.

(dpa / rjs) * merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.

Rubio list picture: © Ricardo Rubio / EUROPA PRESS / dpa