Wet January sets Catalonia on course for rainiest winter in 30 years

January 2026 offered a break from the unusually warm months that began in March 2025 and went down as one of the rainiest months in Catalonia in over 30 years, according to data from Meteocat, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia.

At the Fabra Observatory, 94.7mm of rainwater was recorded – twice the usual January average for the region.

With an average temperature of 8.5°C, January was not only very rainy but also offered a break from the unusual warmth, returning to normal or slightly below-average temperatures, according to Meteocat.

Although 8.5°C sits only slightly below the long-term average, many residents experienced this January as colder than usual. This is likely because recent years have been exceptionally warm. 

For comparison, January 2025 averaged 10.8°C, the second-warmest since records began in 1914, surpassed only by January 2024, with 11°C.

Rain, snow and flooding 

The unusual amount of heavy rain in January caused the Civil Protection to activate the ES-Alert mobile warning system five times in just one week, urging residents to take protective measures as extreme weather battered large parts of the country.

The five ES-Alerts in January warned residents about coastal storms, river flooding, and heavy snow, marking the system's first use for snowfall.

Schools, shops and roads were left closed, with residents being asked to move to higher floors, emergency service phone lines overwhelmed, and even deaths were among the consequences seen in the region due to January’s remarkable weather.

Not to mention the train accident in Gelida, just outside Barcelona, where dozens were injured and one person died after a train collided with a retaining wall that had fallen onto the track following Storm Harry.

​​In the aftermath of the accident, the AP-7 highway was partially closed, both as a result of the train crash and because of heavy snowfall.

Nearly two weeks after the accident, the railway system still hasn’t fully returned to normal, with ongoing disruptions and limited services continuing across several lines as infrastructure repairs and signal issues related to the weather and the derailment persist.