The Government sends an ES-Alert for risk of floods in the Alt Penedès, the Anoia and the Baix Llobregat

BarcelonaThis Tuesday is expected to be complicated regarding rain, and at the moment, the alert is focused on the Alt Penedès, Anoia, and Baix Llobregat regions. At 10:00 AM, Civil Protection sent a new ES-Alert in these areas due to the risk of flooding from torrential rain over the next three hours. The instructions are not to go outside, not to go look for your car, and not to go down into basements. According to the head of forecasting at Meteocat, Santi Sagalà, the rains have left records of more than 30 liters in half an hour in the Penedès, and 41.5 liters were even reached in Sant Martí Sarroca (Alt Penedès) early this Tuesday morning. The 112 emergency service has received 171 calls, the majority from the Alt Penedès, and the Generalitat Fire Department has attended to 51 incidents, none of them major.

The downpours are already affecting El Prat airport, located in the Baix Llobregat region, one of the three with the highest risk of torrential rain. The storm is causing delays in flights arriving at or departing from Barcelona. Enaire, the air navigation manager, has reported that it is applying regulations for safety in arrivals. For this reason, it recommends consulting the airlines regarding the status of flights. Vueling, the main airline at Barcelona airport, has admitted that the adverse weather conditions may affect "some" of its operations. On the Aena website, there are also isolated cancellations, although for now, the airport manager has not detailed how many.

Furthermore, Renfe announced early in the morning that it will suspend the circulation of all high-speed trains as well as regional trains, which cover medium-distance routes, between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The decision, which was taken "unilaterally," comes after warnings of a severe rainstorm. The trains affected by this suspension are the AVE services of the northeast corridor, the Avant, the Euromed, and the Medium Distance services. Regarding regional trains, there are two trains suspended, departing from the Estació de França at 9:15 AM and 8:45 AM, to Tortosa and Móra la Nova, respectively. On the other hand, commercial services are expected to run starting at 11:00 AM, provided that weather conditions allow it and the safety of passengers can be guaranteed.

First alert

From the very first hour, a round of downpours and storms was already expected, which could be strong and leave torrential rains in several regions. In fact, Civil Protection already sent an Inuncat alert this Monday night due to the possibility of very intense downpours throughout the Catalan coast and pre-coast. In parallel, Meteocat has issued a red warning (5 out of 6) for rain in eight regions, including Barcelona during the window from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. this Tuesday.

The forecast is that the downpours currently in Penedès and Anoia will move "slowly" towards the north, to the regions of Barcelona, and could produce "torrential" precipitation. In this morning's press conference, the deputy director of Civil Protection, Imma Solé, insisted on asking for caution and following weather forecasts, and has ruled out for now sending new generalized alerts, as she considered that the public was already informed this Monday evening.

Affected regions

The counties that received the alert this Monday night were: la Selva, Maresme, Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental, Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Alt Penedès, Conca de Barberà, Baix Camp, Alt Camp, Baix Penedès and Tarragonès. The forecast is for intense rain that may lead to significant water accumulations that could exceed 40 liters per square meter in just half an hour, or 90 and even 150 in three hours, without ruling out local amounts of up to 150 liters per square meter in total. Faced with this scenario, the Government sent an Es-Alert this Monday at ten o'clock at night to thirteen coastal and pre-coastal counties that are expected to be most affected by the rain.

Solé explained that these will be localized and concentrated storms, which can lead to episodes such as torrential rain in one specific part of a city at a given moment, while not a drop falls in another. Given the variability of the weather, Civil Protection has not ruled out this morning having to issue new Es-Alerts during the day in specific locations where a lot of water may be accumulating, as happened at 10 a.m. In any case, caution has been requested, extreme precautions in mobility and outdoor activities, and not approaching flood-prone areas, not parking in streams or flood-prone points, and not crossing spaces with accumulated water.

During this Tuesday morning, downpours are expected especially in points along the coast and pre-coastal areas, particularly between Barcelona and Girona. In the afternoon, the main event of the episode will move to the northeast, although scattered showers will continue to fall in other areas, especially along the coast and pre-coastal areas. These precipitations will be fueled by a sea much warmer than it should be at this time of year. Rain will be less likely or only testimonial in the western regions.