A popular British holiday hotspot has been hit by the one of the worst storms in the region in over a decade.
Tenerife and La Palma have been hit particularly hard by Storm Therese, as the Spanish Canary Islands have been subject to high winds and rain from Storm Therese.
The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) warned of a year’s worth of rain falling in just a few days, as gusts of up to 70mph have been felt. There has also been some snow in some areas.
The bad weather, which has already lasted several days, was expected to continue today.
Brits abroad have been subjected to the grim weather on the islands, which sees thousands of British tourists flock to its sunny shores every year.
Over 40,000 Brits live in the islands.
Outdoor events were called off and some flights were cancelled amid weather warnings in the region. Officials in Tenerife were forced to declare an emergency alert covering the whole island.
TikTok user @seb_tenerife, said last week: “This might be the first or second of four bad days of weather.
"A storm - what is going on? It's meant to have the best climate, I’d say, in Europe, and now we're four days into a storm. You know we're in a crisis - I’m in a full tracksuit. What has happened?"
Videos on social media showed waves smashing into the seas as choppy seas were whipped up by high winds.
A Maritime Rescue sea helicopter also had to be deployed after a sailing boat became trapped near El Médano beach in Tenerife, The Sun reported.
Today, a yellow warning for a ‘low hazard’ is in place for most of Tenerife except the north west of the island, all of La Palma and El Hierro, the southern half of Gran Canaria and all of Lanzarote.
All of the Canary Islands are under a yellow low-hazard warning tomorrow. There is no warning in place on Tuesday.
It comes as UK holidaymakers have made alternative plans for Easter as the fallout from the war in Iran continues.
Travel companies noted a spike in demand for destinations such as Greece, Portugal and Spain as holidaymakers shirked their original plans to travel to destinations in the Gulf, such as Dubai, or had their flights cancelled.
“Closer to home, destinations across Europe and the Mediterranean continue to perform well, with Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cape Verde seeing increased demand in recent days as customers opt for familiar, easy‑to‑reach locations,” TUI UK&I’s Managing Director Neil Swanson told The Standard last week.
Mr Swanson added there had also been “strong demand” for flights to destinations in the Caribbean, “especially the Dominican Republic and Jamaica”.
Thomas Cook said bookings to Portugal had increased by 42%, and then an above 40% increase in trips to Spain’s Balearic Islands and a 16% spike for bookings in the Canary Islands.
