The prospect of gale-force winds and heavy rain in several parts of the Canaries today has led the regional authorities to order schoolchildren to kept at home to minimise the risk of potential incidents.
Spanish Met Office Aemet’s storm alert, particularly the likelihood of winds in excess of 130 km per hour in a number of areas, was followed swiftly by the official announcement that all schools on La Palma and Tenerife, as well as tiny La Graciosa, would close. Tenerife’s La Laguna University also called off all classes scheduled for today while courthouses have reduced business to a minimum, with only the most urgent cases allowed to continue. Employers on the islands in question have been urged to allow staff to work from home during the day as further step to limit the number of people travelling to and from their places of employment, while tourists in Tenerife have been warned not to visit Mt Teide, where all 41 walking trails have been closed.
The high winds are part of the latest storm front – Nuria – to hit the Canaries in recent weeks. The front has made its way down the Atlantic from Portugal and its effects began to be felt yesterday, bringing heavy rain to many parts of Tenerife and causing a late-evening flight from Birmingham to be diverted from Tenerife South airport to Gran Canaria. The downpours will continue today but Aemet anticipates that Storm Nuria will be relatively short-lived and the situation should improve considerably on Friday.
