Rain and wind across the country today as Canary Islands deals with aftermath of freak weekend storms

STORMS and gales are forecast throughout today (Monday) across the country, with the worst-hit areas being Galicia, northern Aragón and Catalunya, the Strait of Gibraltar, the provinces of Burgos and Álava, and the central strip of the mainland.

All of Andalucía except the province of Almería; Aragón, except Teruel; most of Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León; all of Catalunya, Cantabria, Asturias, La Rioja, Murcia, Navarra, Madrid and the Basque Country are on yellow alerts for winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour.

Downpours are forecast in the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz (Andalucía), Madrid; Girona (Catalunya); Cáceres (Extremadura); Huesca (Aragón), and Ávila, Segovia and Salamanca (Castilla y León).

Only the Canary Islands will escape, with clear skies and dry weather predicted for today, giving the region some respite from the mayhem caused by yesterday's (Sunday's) hurricanes and deluges.

Power cuts, road closures, flights cancelled, electricity lines down, fences and trees falling and buildings collapsing were reported yesterday as a result of torrential rain, gales and tidal surges in the Canary Islands.

A family became trapped in La Laguna (Tenerife) after the only road out of their house was blocked by falling trees, whilst a building crumbling down in Punta del Hidalgo shut off a main highway.

At least 200 households in Arucas (Gran Canaria) had no electricity yesterday or last night, and it is not known whether they have been reconnected yet.

Homes flooded, power cuts and a rockfall blocking the LP-2 trunk road at kilometre 39 in La Palma, plus the Las Angustias river bursting its banks forced the closure of the LP-210 to Mendo, and the LP-214 via Los Brecitos towards the La Caldera de Taburiente National Park.

An entire balcony fell off in El Hierro, and in La Gomera, residents were warned to stay off non-surfaced and mountain roads.

A roof was ripped off in Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) and ships were unable to drop anchor in the port of Arrecife (Lanzarote).

Winds of at least 100 kilometres per hour across the region – up to 126km/h in Valverde (El Hierro) and 145km/h in Fuencaliente (La Palma), Izaña and Igualero-Vallehermoso in the Teide National Park (Tenerife) – and four-metre-high waves, plus at least 12 centimetres (five inches) of rain in the Miraflores neighbourhood of Santa Cruz de La Palma had the region's emergency response team on stand-by.

Two German women suffered very serious leg injuries when hit by falling rocks in Agaete (Gran Canaria), whilst a total of 14 flights to and from Canary Island airports were cancelled and another five diverted ot different terminals.

Over an hour away by air, in the far south-western province of Huelva, mass destruction including road signs, aerials and trees falling down and chunks of buildings blowing off – especially in the Zafra, El Molino, Las Colonias and La Navidad districts of Huelva city – and floods in the Isla Chica area had emergency services working round the clock, including rescuing a family trapped in their homes by floods.

Across to the south-east, the A-395 motorway through Monachil (Granada province) was shut between kilometres 40 and 32 due to high winds.