Storm Olivier to hit holiday hotspots with weather warnings issued

The Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal will see as much as 90mm of rain this week as Storm Olivier arrives during Holy Week.

Olivier is the 15th storm named by Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, also called AEMET, following Nuria in April.

March saw Spain rocked by four major storms: Martinho, Laurence, Konrad and Jana.

Forecasters say it will crash into the Canary Islands – visited by some 6.3 million British tourists last year – on Wednesday.

Strong winds and heavy rains will tear through the islands, especially La Palma, a mountainous island in the northwest of the Canaries.

An orange warning on Wednesday warns that as much as 30mm of rain may soak La Palma, La Gomera, The Iron and Tenerife in one hour.

Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura alongside some parts of La Palma, La Gomera and Tenerife have yellow weather warnings in place.

As much as 90mm of rain may drench Tenerife and Gran Canaria, Eltiempo.es reported.

From Thursday, the storm will drift to the Iberian Peninsula, the western Spanish region adjoining Portugal, from the Atlantic.

Though rainfall will continue on the Canary Islands.

Olivier will bring thunderstorms and hail to the peninsula, with Andalusia and Murcia on the eastern coast expected to be the worst hit.

Olivier will whip up stormy weather in Spain and Portugal until the weekend, weather officials say.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday will see the heaviest rainfall, affecting Galicia 
Castile and León, Extremadura, and western Andalusia as well as the Cantabrian Sea, Madrid, and Castile-La Mancha.

As much as 90mm of rain will pour down on northern Cáceres.

Temperatures will drop by as much as eight degrees in southern Spain, dragging temperatures in sun-splashed cities like Córdoba where it’s typically 25°C to the high 10s.

José Antonio Maldonado, a Spanish meteorologist, stressed to El Plural: ‘The situation is not very clear and could change.

‘I believe that by Tuesday many areas will have moved toward stability, which is what is expected, although we will have to remain vigilant.’

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