STORMS sweeping southern Spain have caused havoc in Andalucía and Gibraltar and snow has brought inland provinces to a grinding halt.
Numerous roads have been closed due to floods and snow in Almería, Granada and Sevilla provinces and high winds have led to sea traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar being grounded and ports along the south-west coast shut.
On Sunday alone, the 112 emergency hotline sent out rescue workers to deal with over 250 incidents.
A woman suffered injuries to her hand when the ceiling fell down in her house in the province of Huelva, and four off-duty firefighters from the Costa del Sol were hurt when a vehicle they were putting snow chains on in Iznalloz (Granada province) rolled back and ran over them.
One of them remains in a critical condition in Granada's Hospital Clínico with serious head injuries and another is in the Traumatology unit with multiple fractures to his leg.
The other two were discharged after treatment without being admitted overnight.
Roads closed include the access to the La Ragua port in the province of Granada and in both lanes on a highway through Arahal in that of Sevilla after the El Saladillo river burst its banks.
About a dozen roads in the province of Almería have been affected, three of which have been closed altogether – the A-399 between Kilometre 6 and Kilometre 28 in Oria, the AL-5405 in Abla and the AL-4404 between Kilometres 15 and 30 in Gérgal.
The main motorway between the provinces of Almería and Granada, the A-92 northbound, has been closed off due to snow blocking the carriageway in Chirivel, as have the A-317 in María between Kilometre 128 and Kilometre 117 and the A-334 between Kilometres 25 and 21 in Serón (Almería).
Snow chains are necessary between Kilometres 6 and 28 on the AL-5402 in Laujar de Andarax and Kilometres 36 and 18 northbound on the AL-1178 in Gérgal (both in Almería).
Yesterday, an accident between two vehicles caused by the snow left the A-339 in Oria blocked in two places.
Traffic chaos continues in the province of Sevilla, although a road-block at Kilometre 3 on the A-8125 in both directions as a result of the El Saladillo overflowing is said to have been cleared.
Granada, and in particular the Sierra Nevada area, has become treacherous over the weekend and snow chains are needed for wheels on the A-4015 and A-395 from Kilometre 8 in the direction of the ski station, whilst the A-337 has been partially restricted from La Calahorra to the La Ragua port.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com