IN THE past few years, a 'blip' in the weather has brought rain and falling temperatures to Spain over the last week of August, a situation that is normally temporary and clears out the last of the humidity before September comes with intense, warm sun and a drier, more comfortable atmosphere.
But the habitual late-August dip in the mercury went to the extreme on Saturday: The Picos de Europa mountains, which spill across three northern regions, were coated in a dense blanket of snow.
Video footage showed the Diego Mella cabin guest house, also known as the Collado Jermoso, in the province of León, in a blizzard and with its roof and grounds bathed in white, as well as the Cabaña Verónica and Jou de los Cabrones cabin inns in Asturias with at least an inch or two (about two to five centimetres) of snow on top.
The Picos de Europa range spreads across Cantabria, Asturias and the province of León in Castilla y León, and although in places they are little more than 1,000 metres above sea-level, in most parts they exceed 2,000 metres, and the highest peak is the Torre Cerredo at 2,650 metres.
It is rare in Spain for snow to settle, or to remain for more than a few hours, at much below 1,000 metres – a light dusting which normally makes front-page headlines can sometimes be seen at between 600 and 800 metres during a cold snap in a harsh winter – although this is much more common in chillier, inland northern provinces where snow can even be found at sea level occasionally.
The A-6 motorway through Castilla y León became blocked with snowdrifts a couple of years ago, but this is much less of a rarity than in January 2017 when residents in the northern Alicante-province towns of Dénia and Jávea posted pictures of themselves walking along snow-covered sands and building snowmen on the beach.
In any region and at any altitude, though, snow in Spain in August is practically unheard of.
Mediterranean and southern coastal areas, whilst the Picos de Europa were a complete white-out, had residents complaining that with day temperatures of 24ºC and forecast drizzle, their weekend on the beach would have to be shelved – although they still had their fans and air-conditioning on full blast overnight.
And on Sunday, when the rain clouds had moved on, they were back to catching the rays.
First photograph by the Collado Jermoso mountain guest house
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