Those who have booked a trip to the Canary Islands for the upcoming days should rethink their plans, as the Spanish General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior has warned residents and tourists of an inadequate weather for vacations that awaits the islands the following days.
In a statement issued on Monday, June 5, the Ministry has warned that according to the forecast, the islands will be hit by very strong winds of 70 km/h which may even exceed 90 km/h in the islands of La Palma and Tenerife, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The residents have been advised to secure their doors and close their windows, as well as to stay away from trees, walls, and buildings under construction, in order to avoid any incidents that could be life-threatening.
“Remember that, with storms, the sea acquires extraordinary conditions and can drag you if you are in its vicinity. Do not put your life at risk to capture images of the strong waves,” the Ministry has advised.
The storms are expected to start on Tuesday and last for several days. It has been forecast that on Wednesday, the storm will likely be accompanied by thunderstorms. The Peninsula and the Balearic Islands are expected to be less affected.
Drivers have been advised to avoid travelling these days, but if they have to, they shall exercise extreme caution and refrain from stopping in areas where large amounts of water may flow.
Heavy rains and winds are uncommon in this part of Europe, in particular in June, as the Canary Islands tend to be sunny between nine to ten hours per day.
Commenting on the situation, meteorologist Jesús González Alemán has also noted that it is uncommon for such storms to happen in June in the Canary Islands, as they are more likely to happen during the winter months.
“The strange thing is not the phenomenon itself; it is the time in which it happens,” Alemán said.
Last year, the Canary Islands, welcomed 1,105,959 tourists during the month of June, just 21,408 less than in the same month of 2019. Yet, in total, in the first six months of 2022, 6,666,012 visitors arrived in the islands, 11.3 per cent more than in 2019.
In the four first months of this year, the islands have welcomed almost 4.9 million tourists, an increase of 23.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, 1.2 million of which in April, an annual increase of 4.5 per cent compared to last year.
This makes the archipelago the third main destination community by the number of tourists, just behind Catalonia with 1.5 million tourists in April, and the Balearic Islands with a bit over 1.2 million.
Source: Schenge Visa News