Parts of Europe have seen the last of sun ahead of Easter Week as Storm Olivier brings a spout of unstable weather.
Olivier has hit the Canary Islands, parts of Spain and Portugal, with up to 90mm of rain expected in some parts.
The worst-affected areas include La Palma, a mountainous island in the northwest of the Canaries.
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, also called AEMET, warned of ‘heavy, locally persistent showers which could be very strong and accompanied by thunderstorms’ all the way until Sunday.
Where is Storm Olivier expected to hit and what alerts are in place?
An orange alert issued for today warns of winds of 55 mph in the southern coast of Spain, in Cádiz and Almeria.
Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain are also in place for all Canary Islands.
Winds will blow from the southwest and be particularly intense in Tenerife, La Palma, and El Hierro, while they will be milder across Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Some isolated showers could also hit the north and along the western Andalusian coast. Temperatures, still above normal, will begin to drop in the Balearic Islands and the eastern half.
How long will Storm Olivier last?
From today, the storm will drift north and hit parts of the south of Spain and Portugal – including Andalusia and Murcia.
Olivier will travel further north on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bringing heavy rainfall to Galicia Castile and León, Extremadura, and western Andalusia as well as the Cantabrian Sea, Madrid, and Castile-La Mancha.
As the weekend approaches, temperatures will continue to drop, and winds will blow strongly in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran.
In the Canary Islands, the rainfall will persist, but it will be a little less intense.
What other storms have hit Spain?
While the weather has been lovely in the UK, Spain has been rocked by awful weather including Storm Nuria.
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March saw Spain rocked by four major storms: Martinho, Laurence, Konrad and Jana.
Nuria battered the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera.
Olivier is the 15th named storm to sweep Spain – weather officials name particularly major storms to keep public health warnings consistent.
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