The weather service Meteocat sent a warning yesterday due to the forecast that storm Bernard will arrive in Catalonia today and in a good part of the territory there will be heavy rain, strong wind and rough seas. In this sense, there is a warning for wind or rain in the regions of Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Jussà, Alt Urgell, Cerdanya, Ripollès, Alt Empordà, Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Baix Penedès, Alt Camp, Tarragonès, Baix Camp, Priorat, Ribera d'Ebre, Baix Ebre and Montsià.
Meteocat has also issued warnings for bad seas on the central coast and that of Girona. Taking this scenario into account, Civil Protection has activated, at the pre-alert level, the Ventcat and Procicat prevention plans for wind and rough seas.
For the rest of Spain, Aemet's forecast is that the storm will continue to affect the Peninsula today and put eighteen provinces of nine autonomous communities at risk or at significant risk due to wind, rain and waves.
During today, precipitation is expected especially in Huesca, Zaragoza, Ávila, Sória, Guadalajara, Toledo, Lleida and Madrid, which will be at risk due to accumulations of up to 20 liters per square meter in one hour.
The wind will also put Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Mallorca, Ávila, Burgos, Segovia, Soria, Albacete, Ciudad Real, Conca, Guadalajara, Toledo, Madrid, Navarra and La Rioja on yellow warning. On the other hand, Lleida will be at significant risk due to gusts close to 100 km/h. For their part, the waves will cause the yellow alert to be activated in Mallorca and Cadiz.
Yesterday the Bernard caused the cancellation of the maritime lines of the Strait of Gibraltar. Despite the fact that during the morning normality was maintained, maritime traffic was affected in the afternoon following the increase in the intensity of the wind.
The Sevilla direction of the AP-4 motorway was closed in the section of the town of Las Cabezas de San Juan due to the fall of trees due to the strong gusts of wind. While in the capital Cádiz, three palm trees fell on Avenida Cayetano del Toro. The same thing happened in some streets in Seville, where in the late afternoon the City Council activated level one of its emergency plan due to the storm. In Punta Umbría (Huelva), the strong wind caused several fishing boats to break loose from their moorings and drift down the estuary, colliding with each other.
For its part, the DGT warned the drivers of the A-5 and A-66 motorways near Extremadura of the poor condition of the pavement due to the rains. In Cáceres, the City Council ordered the perimeter closure of the parks as a precautionary measure following the forecast of heavy rain and gusts of wind.
