With only a few days to go before Christmas Eve, the weather is already keeping many Spaniards busy. After a couple of very rainy weeks, weather forecasts indicate that the holidays will be wet in much of Spain.
Although there is still some uncertainty about this, Spanish weather service AEMET has indicated that it is likely that new Atlantic squalls will again approach the peninsula at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, on Christmas Eve and Christmas.
According to AEMET spokesman Rubén del Campo, the arrival of showers will lead to precipitation advancing from west to east. This will begin on Friday 23 December in Galicia and the surrounding area. It will then spread to the western and central parts of the country on Saturday and Sunday.
Weather service Meteored also predicts the likelihood “of squalls moving to low latitudes, directly or indirectly affecting Spain during the Christmas holidays”. Mar Gómez of weather site eltiempo.es predicts; ‘There is a chance of precipitation in parts of the following areas;
- Galicia
- Extremadura
- Western Andalucia
- North western Castile and Leon
There will be less rain in the Pyrenees and parts of the Mediterranean’. Temperatures will generally be “slightly warmer than normal”, according to the AEMET. Consequently, the arrival of a wave of cold air is ruled out.
Snow
Snow will be confined to mountain areas over the Christmas weekend, “precisely because no particularly cold air currents are expected on the peninsula”, both Meteored and AEMET report.
New Year’s Eve weather
For the week from 26 December to 2 January, AEMET expects it could be rainy in most of the country. This is with the exception of the far north, and with heavier rainfall in the south-west of the peninsula. Eltiempo.es gives the same outlook: ‘Rainfall could be above average in the southern half of the peninsula and in the Canary Islands. And slightly above normal in the rest of the peninsula, except in the far north’.
Above-average temperatures are expected across the country, a trend that will continue throughout the first half of January.
