Canary Islands Lift Storm Alerts; Storm Francis Heads to Mainland
The Canary Islands have largely lifted weather alerts as Storm Francis moves towards mainland Spain, with only yellow warnings for rain remaining in northern Gran Canaria despite recent strong winds and rainfall.
Storm Francis is moving away from the Canary Islands and heading towards mainland Spain, where it has already triggered alerts in several regions. In Tenerife, however, the impact of the cold weather system that has affected the islands since the start of the year will only result in yellow warnings for rain in northern Gran Canaria.
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has now lifted the risk for the rest of the Canary Islands. These islands had been under threat of heavy rain, strong winds, and rough seas for several days.
Because of this improved forecast, the Canary Islands Government, through its General Directorate of Emergencies, ended the wind alert on Sunday for La Palma, Tenerife, and Gran Canaria. Pre-alerts for the other islands, which were the only remaining active warnings, were also lifted.
This decision was made based on information from Aemet and other sources, following the Canary Islands' specific emergency plan for bad weather (PEFMA), as announced by the regional department this afternoon.
Following this change, the Tenerife Island Council has also deactivated its emergency plan (PEIN). This comes as the unstable weather conditions that have affected the islands in recent days have ended. All related measures and resolutions are now no longer active.
The weather is expected to improve from Sunday afternoon and especially on Monday. This is because the islands were still experiencing some effects from Storm Francis throughout Sunday morning and early afternoon.
The strongest impact was the wind, which once again blew very powerfully, particularly in Tenerife. The island's summit became the windiest area in the Canary Islands, with gusts reaching up to 101 kilometers per hour.
In the same summit area, the lowest temperatures in the region were recorded. While not falling below freezing, they also did not reach 2 degrees Celsius.
Rainfall was not as heavy as in previous days, but significant amounts were still recorded in the western islands, especially in El Hierro, where over 20 liters per square meter fell.