Tenerife hit by snow as Storm Therese brings wind and rain to Canary Islands

ByBen Rich

Lead Weather Presenter

Authorities in Tenerife have activated emergency plans as Storm Therese brings wet, windy and wintry weather to the Canary Islands.

Outdoor events have been called off, roads are closed and some flights have been cancelled with weather warnings set to stay in force throughout the weekend.

Significant snow has already fallen over high ground in the centre of the island around the Mount Teide volcano.

Heavy rain will bring the threat of flooding while strong winds and rough seas will also pose a hazard.

Storm Therese was named by the Portuguese weather service earlier this week - largely because of the risk of disruption in Madeira and the Azores.

However the Canaries are now bearing the brunt.

The Spanish weather service, AEMET, has issued orange weather warnings for Tenerife, valid throughout Friday and into Saturday.

Northern areas of the island could see wind gusts of 90-100 km/h (56-62mph).

The southern half of Tenerife is covered by a warning for rain, with the potential that 100mm (4 in) could fall in some places over a 12 hour period.

This intense rainfall will bring the risk of flooding, landslides and transport disruption.

The Tenerife Island Council - the Cabildo de Tenerife - activated its emergency plan on Wednesday, warning locals and visitors to exercise caution and to avoid unnecessary travel.

Temporary shelters have been set up in affected areas and access roads to the Teide National Park have been closed.

Neighbouring islands including Gran Canaria and La Gomera are also covered by wind and rain warnings, while La Palma and El Hierro could be hit by waves of up to 6 metres (20 feet) giving dangerous conditions along coasts.

By Sunday the worst of the weather should begin to ease although some yellow warnings will remain in force.

However, showers are expected to continue during the first half of next week.

Another feature of Storm Therese has been snow, which has fallen over high ground surrounding Mount Teide - the volcano in the centre of Tenerife.

For holidaymakers who might think of the Canaries as a year-round sun destination this may come as a surprise but snow over the volcano is actually not unusual, especially in winter and early spring.

Mount Teide rises to a height of 3718m (12,200ft) above sea level meaning it is the highest mountain in Spain, higher than any peak in the Pyrenees.

So when rain drenches Tenerife's beaches it is not unusual for snow to fall over the volcano.

Storm Therese is the 19th storm to have been named by the south-west Europe naming group this season - which started in September.

This is a new record number of storms for the group, which includes the national weather services of Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Andorra.

It began naming storms in 2017.

Only two storm names remain on the list drawn up for this season so there is a risk of running out.

If more than two storms occur between now and August a so called "mini-list" of five names will be created, running alphabetically from A to E.