Over 30 centimetres of snow have already accumulated in the south, and it will continue snowing tomorrow

BarcelonaPrecipitation continues to fall intermittently, scattered around many areas. This afternoon the snowfall has increased in general, and in some interior areas it continues to snow at all levels. This evening the snow level will continue to rise to around 700 or 800 metres, but tomorrow colder air will enter, and this will bring the level down to 400 or 500 metres again.

Among the thick snow accumulated, the 35 cm announced by the station that the Meteocat has in the Parc Natural dels Ports, at about 1,000 meters, stands out. Not so high, in Horta de Sant Joan, snow thickness also exceeds 30 cm, according to data from the network of Meteocat observers. Among the region's capitals, the 24 cm accumulated in Falset, the 7 cm in Olot and Lleida, and the 6 cm in Solsona also stand out. The 17 cm accumulated in Prades, the 15 cm in Sant Hilari Sacalm, the 11 cm in Granadella and the 10 cm in Bagà are also important. On the coast the snow level has risen rapidly to 400 or 500 metres in many cases, especially on the central coast.

The snowfall causes some incidents in the traffic: the Eix Transversal is cut between Vilobí d'Onyar and Espinelves due to the snow. Chains are needed on more than 60 roads, including the C-55 between Solsona and Cardona. Most of the affected roads are in the Ponent and southern regions.

The snow has caused the cancellation of the train circulation between Manresa and Lleida (R12), which has been restored at 11 h. The circulation of the R15 between Móra la Nova and Riba-roja and the R13-R14 between La Plana and Lleida has also been cut off. The emergency telephone number 112 has received a total of 265 calls due to the episode of snow, most of them in Segrià (35), Osona (21) and Tarragonès (16).

Another factor to take into account during the next hours is the possibility of intense and stormy showers in Terres de l'Ebre. During the night, the instability will increase in this sector, and downpours could be strong.

Wind is also a protagonist on the coast. Among the strongest gusts there are the 92 km/h in the port of Barcelona, the 80 in Moià, the 76 in Cabrils and the 71 in Sitges. The wind will continue to blow strongly until mid-morning tomorrow. Tomorrow morning there could still be strong gusts of northern-easterly wind between the south of the Costa Brava and the Central Coast.

Along the entire coastline a sea storm with waves up to 4 m high is expected. In fact, the Catalan Meteorological Service has activated warnings for snow, wind and waves. Civil Defense has activated the alerts of the Neucat, Ventcat and Inuncat plan.

The Meteocat maintains the snow warning during the day of tomorrow. For Sunday the highest danger continues to be in Terres de l'Ebre, and in regions such as Osona, Ripollès, Garrotxa and Alt Empordà. Civil Defense recommends avoiding unnecessary trips.

Tomorrow rainfall will not be so extensive and abundant, but the snow level, rather than going up, will go down again, which means it could snow between 400 and 600 metres. We must expect scattered showers in any region, rainfall that will be less abundant than today. On Monday there will be clouds in the east, but the weather will improve.

Between Monday and Tuesday there will be a new peak of low temperatures. A new entrance of cold air and the accumulation of snow will mean that in some regions the temperature will drop to the lowest degrees, frosts in the interior will be stronger than those of this week, and in some valleys of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees the thermometer will be at a temperature between -10 and -15 degrees celsiusin the mornings. The intense cold will end in the middle of next week, with a warm air entry that will make temperatures rise more than five degrees.

Very persistent cold

The snow arrives after a Christmas celebration marked by intense and persistent cold. The average temperature of the last 15 days in Catalonia is slightly below 2 degrees, something that hasn't occurred since the intense Siberian cold wave of February 2012, according to calculations by the meteorology section of the ARA from data from more than 80 stations of the Meteocat. In 2012, the average temperature for a fortnight was as low as -0.5 degrees. Since then there have been more intense cold spells, but none as persistent as the one that has lasted since Christmas.