Teide Snow Blankets Tenerife as Cold Persists Post-Storm Emilia

Storm Emilia has passed, but the cold weather remains. Teide is covered in a thick layer of snow, causing temperatures across Tenerife to drop significantly. Yesterday, some towns experienced winter-like cold, marking the end of an autumn that was unusually wet, thanks to storms like Claudia and Emilia. The snow is still present in Las Cañadas, where it will eventually melt and filter into the water systems linked to the National Park. Meanwhile, the Tenerife Island Council (Cabildo) is getting ready for the "snow operation." Roads to the summit are still closed, but updates are expected soon. Island President Rosa Dávila announced yesterday morning that "intensive work is underway so that Tenerife residents can enjoy the snow as soon as possible."

Yesterday, only a few people tried to get around the roadblocks to enjoy the snowy landscape. Those who ventured to places like Las Lagunetas (El Rosario) or El Portillo (La Orotava) were stopped by Civil Guard traffic patrols and had to turn back. No fines were issued, but people received warnings for their risky behavior. "Our officers are having a quiet day," a police spokesperson said around midday.

Teide is expected to be a very popular spot in the coming hours. It's even possible that school attendance will be slightly lower today, as many might head to the mountain to slide down the snowy slopes using plastics, sleds, or other makeshift devices. "Our main goal is to ensure public safety, and roads will stay closed until they are cleared," Dávila stressed.

The Tenerife Island Council reported a total of 584 incidents after the worst of Storm Emilia, mostly due to strong winds on Saturday. In the Izaña area, wind speeds hit 159 kilometers per hour. Emergency services mainly responded to calls about fallen trees, fences, streetlights, and street furniture. In a few cases, the sewage system needed attention because drains were blocked by branches, particularly after the hailstorms on Saturday. Throughout this busy long weekend, the Cabildo had a team of 374 people working, coordinating with the resources of 19 local councils that activated their Municipal Emergency Plans to deal with the severe weather.

Along the coast, authorities closely monitored the tide changes early Sunday in Garachico, Tacoronte, Puerto de la Cruz, and the coastal areas of La Laguna, including Valle de Guerra, Tejina, Bajamar, and Punta del Hidalgo. Until dawn, the situation remained within normal limits for rough seas, with sea foam collecting along the shore. The most significant incident was a minor flood early in the morning at Plaza del Charco in Puerto de la Cruz. The Martiánez and San Telmo areas in Puerto de la Cruz offered spectacular views without any reported incidents. Although warnings for dangerous coastal conditions were still in place, the situation slowly improved.

At airports and ports, things returned to normal 24 hours after about twenty flight incidents (cancellations, diversions, and delays) occurred across the Canary Islands. These were mostly due to strong winds at airports like Gando (113 km/h), La Palma-Mazo (96 km/h), and Tenerife North (88 km/h). While strong winds were still present yesterday at these three locations, their intensity dropped significantly (Gando - 35 km/h, La Palma-Mazo 35 km/h, and Los Rodeos 30 km/h). The streets also became busier. After a Saturday where most people stayed home, cozy under blankets, reading or watching TV, yesterday's mid-morning sunshine encouraged many to venture out and catch up on their pending Christmas shopping.

Carmen is waiting in line at a churrería. She glances at a newspaper, reading about the incidents caused by Storm Emilia in Tenerife the day before. With two customers ahead of her, she can't help but exclaim, "It's so cold!" hoping the churro maker will hurry. "I was really cold last night," she tells a man tying his dog to a post outside.

As Carmen complains, the thermometer in Tenerife's capital reads 12º Celsius. The sun hasn't risen yet, but the intermittent showers, sometimes heavy, seem to be the last remnants of Emilia. The wind is dying down, but snow covers Teide's peaks, accompanied by light drizzles and, most notably, the persistent cold that began even before the storm, in the middle of last week.

Temperatures have dropped significantly across almost all municipalities on the island in recent hours. While -6º in Izaña is normal with heavy snowfall, the minimum temperatures in Vilaflor (7º), Santiago del Teide (8º), El Rosario (11º), El Tanque (11º), and Guía de Isora (11º) are more unusual. It wasn't much warmer in towns like Arafo, Granadilla, El Sauzal, Icod de los Vinos, La Guancha, La Victoria, or El Tanque, where the lowest temperature for the day was 12º. Carmen orders two hot chocolates and three euros worth of churros to go. Before getting her order, she remembers that she had planned to use the weekend to finish her last-minute Christmas shopping. "I'm heading to the frozen food section for prawns," she says, "because if I wait until next week, they'll be three times more expensive; I'd rather get wet now than pay extra later." Her comment, which might have given others in the queue an idea, ends with a prediction about the cold she expects in La Laguna today. "I won't have any energy left tomorrow at that school," she predicts, seemingly bracing herself for the cold. "Every time it snows, the cold is unbearable." Carmen, for what it's worth, the lowest temperature recorded in Aguere yesterday was 13º, but don't underestimate the cold in La Laguna.