Laurence Dollimore
TORRENTIAL rains will bring risk of flooding across Gibraltar and the Costa del Sol for much of this week.
The downpour will begin on Wednesday and continue until at least Saturday, bringing up to 150 litres of rainfall per sqm over Thursday and Friday.
The whole of the Costa del Sol and Malaga province is already on a yellow weather alert from Wednesday to Friday for strong coastal conditions and heavy rainfall, according to weather agency AEMET.
According to AZ Estepona, this could be updated to a more severe orange warning if 150 litres of rain falls, something the Costa del Sol town ‘has not seen in years.’
It comes as the Gibraltar government issued an ‘early warning for severe weather’ on Monday morning.
“A very wet spell of weather is forecast to develop during Wednesday and continue through in to the weekend, with outbreaks of rain developing across the area, some heavy and prolonged, with occasional torrential and locally thundery downpours,” it read.
“This is in association with a series of LOW pressure systems moving in from the Atlantic across the Southern Iberia.
“Rain Accumulations are expected to reach 50mm+ in a 6 hour period over the 2 to 3-Day period from Wednesday through to Friday, with total accumulations to 100 to 150mm possible, but which could potentially exceed this, and which could lead to some flooding of prone areas including properties. Further updates or Flash Warnings of Severe Weather will be issued as required.”
A mass of cold air is currently brewing over the north of the Spanish Peninsula, by Wednesday it will have moved south coinciding with the arrival of humid subtropical air that is expected to enter the Gulf of Cadiz.
The collision of these two air masses will cause a kind of atmospheric ‘corridor’ to open up, through which very active Atlantic storms will enter, bringing intense rainfall.
The accompanying drop in temperatures may even lead to snow fall in some points in the Malaga province at just 500m or 600m above sea level.
