First Autumn storms bring mixed reception across Spain by Steph Ball
The first storms of the Autumn season lashed at Spain and Portugal early in the week, bringing heavy rains and gales. The most affected areas were in the west, more especially across Galicia and La Coruña, but also in the south, affecting the Huelva and Cadiz provinces.
In the week running up to Wednesday 25th , Santiago in the northwest of Spain had totted up to 313mm of rain, when the average weekly value would be nearer 44mm. Whilst in some ways the rain was welcomed, with much of Spain suffering severe drought conditions over recent years, it brought unwelcome news for fishermen across the northwest.
After wildfires ravaged Galicia during the summer, these torrential rains swept down the mountain sides carrying what Spaniards likened to an oil slick, but of ash. It reigned down on some of the beaches of Rianxo in La Coruña, covering them in a black blanket almost half a metre deep, and is thought to have wiped out a good part of the shellfish inhabiting that area.
The force of the floods also broke water pipes and polluted drinking wells, leaving thousands without water.
Gales accompanied the rain, with wind speeds exceeding 70mph over land and over 100mph into the Bay of Biscay generating very rough seas. As the Velux 5 Oceans race set out from La Coruña last Sunday it hit the stormy weather. With just one day into the race, some boats were forced to return to port having suffered damage. One of these was the legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston who likened the waters to “watery Himalayas”.
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