Spain: For the first time in 50 years, snow stops traffic and trains closes Madrid's airport
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Heavy snowfall in Spain, on Friday, disrupted road and rail traffic, and led to the closure of Madrid's capital airport. And the heavy snowfall continued on an unprecedented scale for 50 years in Madrid, which was forced to close Madrid's Barajas International Airport for "security reasons." The airport tweeted: "Work continues to clear runways from snow, and we hope that we can resume service as soon as possible." Snow disrupted traffic on nearly 400 roads, according to the Spanish Transport Authority, as hundreds of truck drivers were stranded across the country. Already 300 of them had to spend the night from Thursday to Friday in a parking lot near Cuenca (central Spain).
Rail traffic between Madrid and Valencia was also disrupted, according to Renfe Railway. The city council of the historic city of Toledo was forced to seek help from the army to remove snow. According to the Meteorological Agency, "AEMET", which has put all Spanish cities, including the capital, Madrid, on alert, this situation is "exceptional" or even "historic".
The agency said, that snow is still expected at a rate of 20 cm today, Saturday, in Madrid and the central plateau of the country, and it can cover up to 50 cm in the highest areas in this region.
The regions of Madrid and Castilla La Mancha (center) and Valencia (east) were the most affected by the snowfall. According to weather forecasts, Storm Filomena, the source of this rare snowfall, will move northeast of the country on Sunday, resulting in less snowfall, although temperatures remain exceptionally low. An unofficial national record was set at minus -34.1 degrees Celsius (below zero) on Wednesday, more than 2,000 meters above sea level, at a special meteorological station in Clot de la Lanka, in the middle of the Spanish Pyrenees.
Reuters
Reuters
Reuters
The snowstorm "Philomena," which is taking place in Spain, today, Saturday, caused the death of two people, and led to the detention of many citizens in their cars, causing chaos in transportation throughout the country.
The Spanish authorities announced the death of a woman, after she was trapped inside her car, and the waters of a river overflowed its banks, near Malaga, southern Spain.
Meanwhile, the authorities pointed out that a homeless person was killed, frozen from the cold, in the eastern city of Ayoub Castle.
The Spanish authorities mobilized in the face of this storm, as soldiers worked to reach drivers who were stranded for hours on the roads in Madrid, and the military emergency unit, which deployed 147 soldiers to rescue and help citizens, said on Twitter: "We will continue to rescue the stranded car passengers."
For his part, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez strongly warned of this storm, saying in "Twitter": "Let us avoid travel and follow the instructions of emergency services ... Let us be very careful in the face of the storm Philomena."
