Storms Charles and Bruna keep 27 Spanish provinces under warnings on 12 November

Scope of the warnings

Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) forecasts that on 12 November the storms Charles and Bruna will keep much of the country under warnings, with wind and sea the most severe hazards. The count depends on the report: one puts 27 provinces in 12 autonomous communities under warnings, while another puts 14 autonomous communities and the autonomous city of Ceuta under alert. That 14-community count includes orange warnings in six of the communities and in Ceuta. Orange warnings, which signal significant danger, cover Los Vélez and the Almanzora valley in Almería and the northwest of Murcia, where gusts of at least 100 km/h are forecast. In Albacete, the Alcaraz and Segura areas face gusts of around 90 km/h. Mallorca and Menorca are under orange sea warnings for waves of four to five metres, and yellow sea warnings for waves of two to three metres cover Alicante, Almería, Barcelona, Castellón, Girona, Granada, Málaga, Murcia, Tarragona and Valencia.

Rain and snow in the north

Rain remains the main hazard in the north and northeast. The heaviest falls are expected in western Galicia, the Cantabrian coast, the Pyrenees and Catalonia, where snow is forecast above 2,500 metres in the Pyrenees. Yellow rain warnings cover A Coruña, Asturias, Cantabria, Girona, Navarra, Ourense and Pontevedra, while Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote face strong rain. One forecast projects up to 60 litres per square metre over 12 hours along the Barcelona coast and southern Girona, with 20 litres possible in a single hour. In Galicia, accumulations of up to 40 litres per square metre over 12 hours are possible in A Coruña, Pontevedra and southern Ourense, along with possible storms. Parts of Catalonia and the Pyrenees sit close to the wind alerts in the east, so residents in several areas may face more than one hazard at once.

Movement of the systems and outlook

Charles is a small but deep system with tropical characteristics, and it will cross the peninsular interior toward the northeast during the early hours of 12 November. Bruna has weakened and is approaching the Galician coast. Forecasters expect very cloudy or overcast skies over nearly all of Spain, with clearing in the archipelagos and in the east and southeast of the peninsula. Rain is unlikely in the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and Murcia, so the areas under the strongest wind and sea warnings are among those least likely to see rain. Maximum temperatures are expected to fall in the north and the Canary Islands, and minimum temperatures across the country. A front linked to Charles will leave very cloudy skies in the Canary Islands. The sources describe 12 November as the last phase of the episode, and a new front is due on Friday, 13 November.