Catalonia snowed under

Snow fell all over Catalonia in the early hours and in the morning of Wednesday, disrupting traffic on around 80 roads in the country, with snow chains needed on 58 of them. Snow settled over the Barcelona area, even in the northern areas of the capital, which contributed to the disruption on the main access roads into the city during the morning rush hour. The authorities warned citizens intending to drive to work to use extreme caution.

Traffic disruptions

Snow chains were needed on Wednesday morning on some major roads, including some stretches of the C-13, C-16, C-25, C-37 and N-260 main roads in central and northern Catalonia. Some stretches of minor roads, such as the BV-1415, the GIV-5201 and the BV-2204, have been closed. Meanwhile, there are traffic jams on the AP-7 motorway by Pont de Molins, Hostalric and La Jonquera, as well as on both of Barcelona’s northern and southern ringroads.

Public transports and hospitals working

The Catalan Civil Protection service activated its emergency plan for operating in situations of heavy snow. The authorities called on the public to keep trips to a minimum and to avoid using private vehicles. With some minor exceptions, public transport is working without disruption, although school transport was suspended for Wednesday in the whole country. According to provisional figures, 272 schools did not open, affecting some 85,000 students. While the universities of Vic and Girona also canceled lessons, the country’s eight main hospitals are working normally. By 9am, the 112 emergency phone number had received 2,379 calls. 

 

 

Restriction of lorries

Lorries over 7.5 tonnes are still restricted from circulating on the entire traffic network, a measure in effect since Tuesday 4pm, before the heavy snowfall started. This led to some complaints from lorry drivers, but Civil Protection said on Wednesday morning that this unprecedented measure, affecting 6,500 lorries, was key to avoiding major disruption. The Red Cross brought blankets, food and drinks to around 150 lorry drivers stuck in Barcelona’s port and other areas due to the snow and the restriction.

The only temperatures over three degrees are in the southernmost tip of the country. Thus snow could continue to reach the rest of Catalonia –even at 0 to 100 meters above sea level– until approximately noon, when the temperature is expected to rise, restricting the snow to places over 1,500 meters above sea level. In fact, by around 10.30am, most of the snow had turned into rain in most of the coastal towns.