Spain faces a weekend of severe weather as the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has placed 15 autonomous communities under warnings for rain and storms this Saturday. Five regions, Aragón, Castilla y León, Cataluña, La Rioja, and Comunidad Valenciana, are under orange alert, which AEMET’s Meteoalerta system uses to signal impressive danger. The warnings follow an Atlantic trough transitioning into a DANA, an isolated depression at high altitude. It can bring cold air aloft into contact with warm, moisture-laden air near the surface, increasing atmospheric instability.
Orange alerts for rain and storms specifically affect Teruel; León, Palencia, and Soria; Tarragona; the Ibérica riojana; and Castellón. Barcelona and Lleida are also under orange alert for heavy rain alone. Other areas with yellow or orange warnings include parts of Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, País Vasco, and the Balearic Islands. AEMET’s warning map specifies affected provinces, hazards and time periods, reflecting the localized nature of these risks rather than uniform conditions across an entire autonomous community. In areas under warning, forecasters expect heavy downpours, hail and gusty winds, especially in mountainous and eastern zones.
Alongside the storm risk, AEMET has issued yellow alerts for high temperatures in Córdoba, Mallorca, Girona, and Pontevedra, as well as for coastal waves in Pontevedra and fog in Lugo. The agency forecasts mostly cloudy or overcast skies, except in the far south, Ceuta, and Melilla. Light rain is expected in the Cantabrian area from early morning, while isolated storms may develop in Ciudad Real and spread to neighboring provinces. As the day progresses, convective clouds are forecast to form over much of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, bringing further showers and storms, particularly inland.
AEMET says the most intense storms could bring very strong winds and large hail, with the greatest impact likely in the interior and eastern regions. In the Canary Islands, the north of the higher islands will see cloudy skies and possible light rain, while the rest of the archipelago remains mostly clear. Fog banks are forecast for the far north and Alborán coast, while light haze may affect the Canary Islands. Meteoalerta covers rain, thunderstorms, coastal conditions, heat and fog, with forecasts extending up to 72 hours. AEMET updates warnings as conditions evolve, so alert levels and affected areas may change.
Temperatures are set to fall across the peninsula and both archipelagos, with the sharpest drops, over 6ºC, expected in the northern interior. Only the Rías Baixas in Galicia may see local temperature increases. Despite the general cooling, highs above 35ºC remain possible in the southwest and the Balearic Islands, and occasionally along the Mediterranean coast and Rías Baixas. Nighttime lows will stay above 20ºC across much of the southern half, the northeast and the Mediterranean coast, as well as parts of the Cantabrian region.
Winds will be moderate and northerly across the northern half of the peninsula, and could become strong along the western Galician coast. In the south, winds will come from the south and southwest, ranging from light to moderate, while the Mediterranean and Balearic areas will see moderate easterly and southeasterly winds. The Canary Islands will have moderate trade winds, with strong gusts possible in exposed areas.
This broad pattern of instability follows a series of recent weather events that have brought both heatwaves and storms to Spain. A recent analysis by russpain.com highlighted similar risks in northern and eastern regions, reflecting the season’s volatility.
Spain's weather alert system uses color codes to communicate expected danger: yellow signals potentially hazardous conditions that may affect some activities, orange indicates impressive danger, and red denotes extraordinary danger. Alert levels reflect expected risk and potential impact, not simply rainfall totals. Residents can follow the live AEMET map for updates as forecasts change. Heavy rain, hail, strong gusts and sudden temperature shifts can disrupt travel, agriculture and daily routines, particularly where storms develop quickly.
