Madrid, Feb 27 (EFE).- Storm Juliette, the tenth major impact of the season, today will plummet temperatures and leave snowfall even at sea level in the northern half of the peninsula, with many roads currently affected, especially secondary, and several communities on alert, especially the Balearic Islands with extreme risk.
The Juliette storm formed in the Mediterranean, north of the Balearic Islands, will inject “very cold air into our country” from high latitudes with the help of an anticyclone whose center is north of the British Isles, the spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) Rubén del Campo.
Between the anticyclone and the storm, “a corridor of very cold winds” has been generated, which will cause a “notable” drop in temperatures this last Monday in February, in which the atmosphere will be very cold, also throughout the week , with intense frosts and values below -5 and -6 degrees.
This Monday the Balearic Islands have activated the red alert for accumulations of snow of more than 40 centimeters in 24 hours in the Majorcan Sierra de la Tramontana from 400 meters, although it is possible that it sets even at lower altitudes; In addition, there will be maritime storms with waves of up to 8 meters.
Seven other communities are also on alert, although in orange and yellow due to lower risk than the previous one, due to heavy snowfall, especially in the northern half, as well as very cold, rain and wind.
In Cantabria, snowfalls of 6 centimeters thick are expected in 24 hours from 500-600 meters and temperatures of up to -6 degrees.
In Catalonia, the thermometers will drop to -10 degrees in the pre-Pyrenees of Barcelona and in the Pyrenees in Gerona and also in the Aran Valley, in Lleida, where snowfall will accumulate up to 5 centimeters in 24 hours from any height.
Likewise, Asturias, Castilla y León, Navarra, the Basque Country, La Rioja and the autonomous city of Melilla are under alert for cold, wind and snowfall.
Coastal cities such as Barcelona or the emblematic La Concha beach in San Sebastián have woken up with a fine layer of snow.
By mid-morning fifty roads were affected by snow, four of them on the main network where it was necessary to drive with caution; one, on the A-1 in Segovia near Castillejo de Mesleón, another two in La Rioja and the fourth, the A-67 in Cantabria as it passes through Pesquera and Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia).
On the other hand, eleven roads of the secondary network were closed to traffic and chains were needed on another 22.
In regions such as the Basque Country, the winter road plan has been activated, so that snowplows and other resources are prepared to act in the face of snow.
This Monday, according to Aemet, the thermometers have dropped to 19 degrees below zero in levels of the Pyrenees while in populated areas of the Pyrenees mountain range it has reached -7 degrees.
Snowfall is forecast in the northern third of the peninsula, even at sea level in points of the eastern Cantabrian Sea and the Catalan coast, and very copiously in the north of Mallorca.
Temperatures will drop throughout the country and in central hours it will not exceed zero degrees in mountain areas or 5 degrees in much of the northern half.
On Tuesday the snowfall will continue in parts of the northern third of the peninsula, again even at sea level, in the eastern Cantabrian Sea and in Catalonia, although throughout the day the level will rise somewhat to approximately 200 meters.
In the Balearic Islands, the rainfall may be locally strong or persistent on Tuesday, accompanied by storms and hail and still heavy snowfall in the Sierra de Tramontana, although the level will rise throughout the day.
The minimum temperatures will be very low on Tuesday, even somewhat lower than on Monday, with frosts practically generalized in the interior of the Peninsula and records below 5 degrees below zero again in many points, and even below -10 degrees.
In the mountains, temperatures will rise in the central hours, an increase that will be notable in the east of the peninsula, although daytime temperatures will be between 5 and 10 degrees below normal for the time of year in many areas, especially in the northern half. .
