PHOTOS: Madrid, Spain begins to dig out after historic snowfall
Storm Filomena has resulted in at least four deaths and the shutdown of travel across the country. Some 20-30 cm of snow has fallen in the capital Madrid so far, making it the city's largest accumulation in decades.
Storm Filomena hammered Spain with heavy snowfall, leaving at least four people dead, impacting thousands of kilometres of roads, shutting down most travel and services across a large swath of the country.
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) indicated it was the biggest snowfall in Madrid since 1971, with up to 20-30 cm of snow falling on the city on Saturday. Some surrounding areas recorded up to 60 cm of snow.
Around 100 people spent two nights at a shopping centre in Majahaonda, a town north of Madrid, after being trapped by the blizzard on Friday.
Forecasters warned of hazardous conditions in the next few days, with temperatures expected to plummet to as low as -10°C next week -- possibly turning snow turning to ice and sending damaged trees falling.
The storm impacted approximately 20,000 km of roads across central Spain. The government is going to send convoys transporting the vaccine and food supplies to those in need, transport minister Jose Luis Abalos said on Saturday.
As a result of the storm, at least four people have been killed, – A man and a woman whose car was swept away by a flooded river in Andalucia, a homeless man who died of hypothermia in Zaragoza, and a man who was found dead beneath a pile of snow in Madrid.
Scores of flights to Madrid, Malaga, Tenerife and Ceuta -- a Spanish territory in North Africa -- were cancelled.
MADRID DIGS OUT FROM HEAVIEST SNOW IN 50 YEARS
Here are a selection of visuals from the significant snowfall in Madrid.
Photo: Mario Picazo.
Photo: Mario Picazo.
Photo: Mario Picazo.
Photo: Mario Picazo.
Thumbnail courtesy of Mario Picazo.
With files from Reuters.
