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 Alt Penedès, Anoia, and Baix Llobregat. At 10:00, Civil Protection sent a new ES-Alert in these districts due to the risk of flooding from torrential rain over the next three hours. The instructions are not to go outside, not to go to retrieve 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 Penedès, and even reached 41.5 liters in Sant Martí Sarroca (Alt Penedès) early this Tuesday morning. The 112 emergency number has received 171 calls, the majority from 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 originating from or heading to Barcelona. Enaire, the air navigation manager, has reported that it is applying safety regulations to arrivals. For this reason, it recommends checking the status of flights with the airlines. 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.

In addition, Renfe announced early this morning that it will suspend the circulation of all high-speed trains and also regional trains, which make medium-distance journeys, between 9 and 11 a.m. The decision, which was taken "unilaterally," comes after warnings of a severe rainstorm. The trains affected by this suspension are the AVE services on the northeast corridor, the Avant, the Euromed, and the Medium Distance services. Regarding regional trains, there are two suspended trains, departing from Estació de França at 9:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., to Tortosa and Móra la Nova, respectively. On the other hand, commercial services are expected to run from 11 a.m., provided that weather conditions allow it and the safety of passengers can be guaranteed. Some passengers showed resignation in the face of this situation, such as the case of Antonio, who is traveling to León with a layover in Madrid, and who arrived at Sants station four hours before his train to try to catch an earlier trip, warned by a message from Renfe early in the morning.

First alert

Since early in the morning, a round of downpours and storms had been expected that 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. At the same time, Meteocat has issued a red warning (5 out of 6) for rain in eight regions, including Barcelona during the window from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. this Tuesday.

The forecast is that the heavy rains 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 the meteorological forecasts and has ruled out for now sending new generalized alerts, since 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 could lead to significant water accumulations that may 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 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 while not a single 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 points where a lot of water may be accumulating, just as happened at 10 AM. In any case, prudence has been requested, to exercise extreme caution in mobility and outdoor activities and not to approach flood-prone areas, not to park in streams or flood-prone points, and not to cross spaces with water accumulation.

During this Tuesday morning, downpours are expected especially in parts of the coast and pre-coast, 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 on the coast and pre-coast. 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 testimonial in the western regions.