Snow, wind and hail have brought winter back to Spain on the first weekend of March. Roads in the north of the peninsula and the Madrid region were badly affected by the heavy snowfall and hail storms on Saturday.
There was a lot of precipitation, especially in the afternoon. However, by evening, most highways and dual carriageways were passable again. This was except for trucks at some points in Burgos, Guadalajara, Soria, Madrid and Segovia, the Spanish traffic service DGT reported.
The roads around Madrid
For example, traffic on the A-1, A-5 and A-6 was affected by the snowfall near Madrid on Saturday afternoon. As a result, the A-1 towards Burgos through Somosierra was also closed, as were the M-601 and M-604 in the mountains. According to the DGT, it was possible to drive cautiously on the A-1, A-2 and A-6 in the late afternoon. Although they recommended “avoiding travel as much as possible” due to the bad weather.
In the mountains of Madrid, the use of chains or winter tyres has been mandatory since Saturday afternoon to drive through the mountain passes of Navacerrada and Cotos due to the accumulation of snow on the road. Furthermore, it is also mandatory to use them on the N-6, on the border with the province of Segovia.
Heavy snowfall caught day trippers by surprise
The heavy snowfall in just a few minutes surprised many people in Navacerrada who went to the mountains for a day. Not all of them had snow chains. As a result, dozens of motorists got stuck with their vehicles and had to be rescued and helped by the emergency services and snowplows to be able to descend from this mountain pass.
Weather alert for Madrid area
Emergencias Madrid activated level 0 of the winter weather plan. With code yellow for snow and wind gusts up to 70 kilometres per hour. A snow warning was also in place in the metropolitan area, Henares, South, Vegas and West. In addition to these snow warnings, there were two yellow warnings for maximum wind gusts of 70 kilometres. Not only in the mountains, but also in the conurbation, Henares, Sur, Vegas and Oeste.
Trucks were not allowed to drive through snow
Trucks and articulated vehicles were not allowed to drive on the A-2 in two parts of Alcolea del Pinar (Guadalajara) and Medinaceli (Soria). In addition, there was a ban on the A-1 in Burgos, in Pardilla and Gumiel de Izán, and in Madrid in El Molar. The ban also applied to the A-1 in Segovia in Santo Tomé del Puerto and Honrubia de la Cuesta. Code yellow for these roads only applied to heavy trucks. However, cars and light vehicles could drive without restrictions.
Fatal accident on the A-5 due to bad weather
Saturday’s bad weather has also caused a number of road accidents. A collision involving ten vehicles due to a hail storm on the A-5 motorway has caused one death and one serious injury.
The incident took place at 5.27 pm at kilometre 37 of the A-5 in the direction of Madrid, due to the hail.
As a result of the chain collision, one person died. Another was seriously injured and taken to the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid. Three other people suffered minor injuries and were taken to the Hospital de Móstoles.
Accidents in Toledo and Guadalajara
In addition, there have been five more accidents on the A-5, in the province of Toledo, due to weather conditions. Two of them happened near Casarrubios del Monte and another three in Valmojado, Los Cerrablos and Las Ventas de Retamosa.
There were also eight accidents on the A-2, in the province of Guadalajara, between kilometres 42 and 112. Four of them happened in Guadalajara. One in Azuqueca de Henares, one in Alovera, one in Algora and one in Trijueque.
Also read: Spanish weather forecaster got winter predictions wrong
