Succession of storms: this Thursday Aline arrives, with widespread rain, wind and sea storms

• Forecast Five provinces at risk from wind, rain and waves

The Peninsula is still under the domination of low pressure and after Babet, which left this Tuesday even more than 100 liters per square meter, this Thursday Aline will arrive that although it will quickly cross the territory will leave abundant and widespread rains, wind and sea storm during that day and Friday, as reported by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).

The spokesman for the AEMET, Rubén del Campo, has indicated that Babet left 107 liters per square meter in 12 hours in Puerto del Pico (Ávila), 79 liters per square meter in 12 hours in La Covatilla (Salamanca) although the rainfall irrigated large areas of the western third of the peninsula.

In addition, he pointed out that during the early hours of Wednesday morning it has continued to rain in the Central System and also in the Cantabrian Sea, with very strong wind gusts, including hurricanes, that is, more than 120 kilometers per hour in parts of the Sierra Nevada and the Cantabrian Mountains. During this Wednesday the unstable weather will continue, with rain and winds in the north and west of the Peninsula.

In addition, it forecasts that this Thursday a "small but deep storm will form off Portugal that will complicate the weather for the Iberian Peninsula", as there will be widespread and abundant rains and also very strong wind gusts and rough seas.

This storm, Aline, is the first to be named by the meteorological services of southwestern Europe, in this case by the Portuguese Meteorological Service. This group is also made up of Spain, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Del Campo expects Aline's passage to be quick, although Friday will still leave some heavy rain, strong winds and a sea storm. The weekend is expected to be mostly limited to the northern and western extremes of the Peninsula, although the weather will be cooler, because from this Thursday temperatures will begin to drop and in few areas it will exceed 20 degrees Celsius on Saturday and Sunday.

Del Campo stresses that on Thursday Aline will leave an adverse situation of locally heavy and persistent rainfall that will occur in large areas of the center, south and northwest of the peninsula, as well as in the Pyrenees. In all these areas, it will be possible to exceed 40 litres per square metre in 12 hours and even 60 or 70 litres per square metre in 12 hours in areas of the Pyrenees of Castilla-La Mancha and Western Andalusia.

He even expects 30 litres per square metre to fall in Western Andalusia and even more in just one hour. "They are very heavy showers that imply significant danger because there could be sudden floods of channels that usually come down with little water or some flooding," warns the spokesman.

Rain throughout the peninsula

In any case, he adds that it will rain in "practically the entire Peninsula" although the weakest will occur in the Cantabrian Sea and in the far east. At the last minute, precipitation will also arrive in the Balearic Islands and also when temperatures drop, on this day they will do so generally, snowflakes could be seen on the peaks of the Pyrenees.

At the same time as the rain, there will also be very strong wind gusts, of more than 80 kilometres per hour in much of the Peninsula and in parts of the Balearic Islands. In some mountain areas and the extreme south of the peninsula, gusts could be higher than 90 kilometres per hour.

In view of this situation, the AEMET spokesperson calls for "caution", as the wind could cause branches or other elevated objects to fall.

Aline will move away towards the interior of Europe on Friday, although it will still be a day of unpleasant weather and with rains in Galicia, Cantabrian communities and the Pyrenees locally intense and accompanied by storms as well as in parts of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

Wind, snow and rough seas

With less intensity, it will also rain in mountainous environments of the peninsula without ruling it out in a scattered way in other parts of the interior. In general, the rains will be reversed throughout the day throughout Friday.

The spokesperson expects snow above 1,600 meters in the north and 2,000 meters in the Central system and that the wind will continue to blow from the west and northwest with very strong gusts in the northern and eastern thirds of the Peninsula as well as in the Balearic Islands.

Temperatures will drop again and will only exceed 25ºC on Friday in parts of the Mediterranean coast and in the Balearic Islands and daytime temperatures will remain below 20 degrees in much of the peninsula and cool atmosphere also at night. Minimum temperatures will remain below 5ºC in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.

Finally, looking ahead to the weekend, Del Campo expects showers to continue in Galicia, Cantabria, Northern Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and snowfall in the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains from about 1,400 to 1,700 meters. In the rest of the country the skies will be more open, although with winds still strong, but less intense than the previous days, in parts of the north and east.

On Sunday, little cloudy skies will prevail in most of the territory, the arrival of a new front could leave scattered rainfall in Galicia and other points of the western third.

The thermometers will drop a little more on Saturday and the atmosphere will even be "somewhat cool for the time of year" as night frosts will occur in mountain areas. On Sunday, the thermometers will recover. Overall, highs at the weekend will not reach 20ºC in most parts of the country.

As for the Canary Islands, the AEMET highlights that temperatures have already dropped after the long heat wave that the archipelago has experienced and have reached values more appropriate for the season. Thus, he expects temperatures to continue to drop in the coming days to between 25 and 27ºC on the coasts. There is also a chance of rain on the more mountainous islands and on Friday throughout the archipelago.

• AEMET