Cold front to bring downpours and gales to Med this weekend

SPRINGLIKE temperatures and sunshine along Spain's Mediterranean coast is not expected to last – in fact, the weekend is likely to see a return to the cold, wind and rain suffered earlier this month.

State meteorological agency AEMET has warned that an 'Isolated Depression at High Altitudes' is on its way – a Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos in Spanish, which weather experts in the country are referring to by its initials, DANA.

AEMET explains that a DANA is a pocket of cold air bringing isolated incidents of torrential rain along with gale-force winds and plummeting temperatures.

It is expected to affect all or part of four regions along the east coast of the mainland.

Catalunya's southernmost province, Tarragona, plus the Comunidad Valenciana – made up of the three provinces of Castellón, Valencia and Alicante – then the Region of Murcia, and possibly even the eastern Andalucía provinces of Almería and Granada are expected to be hit.

In the last two weeks, all of these areas have been basking in warm climates, ranging from 20ºC to 25ºC in the daytime, and just into double figures at night.