ARCHIVED - Temperatures down to 25 below zero on the coldest night in Spain for 20 years

Central Spain is the worst-hit area as a record cold snap hits the country

Across Spain the night of 11th to 12th January 2021 was the coldest in the last 20 years, with minimums falling to -25.2ºC in Molina de Aragón (in the province of Guadalajara), -21.3ºC in Calamocha (Teruel) and minus 21 in the city of Teruel. Throughout the provinces of Guadalajara and Teruel temperatures of -15ºC were commonplace, and these figures were also repeated in Zaragoza, Ávila, Segovia and Cuenca.

These cold conditions have been brought about by the departure of Storm Filomena, following record snowfalls in Madrid and central Spain, and the subsequent arrival of a body of cold air driven by an anticyclone in the Atlantic.

The problems caused by snow at Barajas airport in Madrid have been compounded by sheet ice as temperatures dropped overnight to 13 below zero, while in the centre of the city, in the Retiro park, a minimum of -7ºC was recorded and the temperatures showed minus 12 in nearby Pozuelo de Alarcón.

Warnings for extreme cold remain in place in 12 of Spain’s 17 regions on Tuesday, with red alert status maintained in parts of Madrid, Aragón, Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha according to State meteorological agency Aemet.