SPAIN'S first-ever 'weather with a name' is making 'her' presence felt in the western half of the mainland with flights cancelled across Andalucía, Galicia, Cantabria and the Basque Country and a man last spotted on a seafront promenade reported missing.
Gales of up to 140 kilometres per hour (87mph) have led to 11 provinces across the northern coastal strip, Castilla y León and La Rioja being placed on red alert, and the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT)'s map of roads to avoid (second picture) currently covers most of the peninsula, plus Ibiza and Mallorca.
Galicia, in the far north-west above Portugal, has suffered the most so far, with emergency services called to tackle over 500 incidents involving trees down, branches blocking major highways, flooded streets and homes, and fallen electricity cables which have left numerous streets without power.
Gas Fenosa has reported that 20,000 of its clients have been in the dark for the last hour, since around 21.30 this evening (Sunday).
The region has seen more rain in one day than in the whole of November which, although positive in light of the current drought, has wreaked havoc throughout its four provinces of A Coruña, Pontevedra, Lugo and Ourense.
Further south-east, in Madrid, the capital's huge central Retiro Park has been shut due to the danger of falling trees, whilst snow in the central province of Guadalajara has left cars trapped.
Coastguard officials in Santa Ponça, Mallorca are hunting for a man swept away by a tidal wave at around 15.00 today, but had to call off the search when night fell.
They will resume at first light tomorrow, but say the turbulent weather conditions are making the operation 'extremely challenging'.
Nearly 500 snow ploughs are on stand-by at present in the northern regions of Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y León as the white stuff is predicted to fall at altitudes above 600 metres over the next two days.
In the south of the mainland, Ryanair flights FR8364 from Sevilla to London Stansted and the return connection FR8363, plus EasyJet flight U2 2009 from London-Luton to Sevilla and U2 2010 in the opposite direction were cancelled earlier today due to adverse weather conditions.
The Ryanair flight was due to reach Sevilla at 16.10 and the EasyJet plane should have landed at 12.55, whilst the flights back to Luton and Stansted were scheduled to take off at 13.30 and 16.40 respectively.
Another flight from Málaga to an unconfirmed London airport, and two more from the Costa del Sol capital to Amsterdam, were also grounded, whilst a Valencia-Sevilla flight had to be diverted to Málaga due to poor visibility.
These cancellations cannot be entirely blamed on 'Storm Ana', however – severe weather in the UK and The Netherlands, including snow, high winds and temperatures well below freezing are said to have been the main cause.
'Ana' is the first storm in Spain's weather history to have been given a name after the State meteorological agency, AEMET, and its counterparts in France and Portugal decided recently to 'christen' major climate incidents that could cause widespread destruction.
As yet, they have decided only to 'name' Atlantic storms, not those proceeding from the Mediterranean.
The next ones – in keeping with international tradition of alphabetical order – will be called Bruno, Carmen, David, Emma, Félix, Gisele, Hugo, Irene, José, Le, Marina, Nuno, Olivia, Pierre, Rosa, Samuel, Telma, Vasco and Wiam.
In the unlikely event of these storms occurring as often as once a year, the met offices will not have to think up any new names until at least 2037.
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