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Levante storm in Marbella JOSELE
Aemet reactivates amber weather warning due to high winds on Costa del Sol

Aemet reactivates amber weather warning due to high winds on Costa del Sol

The storm that has battered the Malaga coastline for several days has subsided a little and a yellow weather warning is now in place. But Spain’s Met Office has warned the situation will worsen again on Monday and Tuesday

ENRIQUE MIRANDA

MALAGA.

Sunday, 12 February 2023

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The intense easterly storm, that has battered the Malaga province coastline and other parts of Andalucía with strong gusts of wind and high waves for several days, has subsided in the last few hours.

However, Spain’s state weather agency Aemet maintains a yellow warning for coastal phenomena for the remainder of this Sunday and during the first hours of tomorrow, 13 February, and warns that the situation will worsen during Monday afternoon.

In fact, from 6pm on Monday, the weather warning will go from yellow to amber and will affect the city, Costa del Sol, the Guadalhorce valley and the Axarquía. Winds of 60 to 70 km/h, gale-force 8, and waves of 4 metres are expected until 7am on Tuesday morning. The minimum temperatures will begin to rise (9C this Sunday, 10 on Monday and 14 on Tuesday), with maximums that remain at around 18 degrees.

However, there will be no rain. Aemet only forecast some possibility of precipitation at the beginning of the week in areas of the western third of Andalucía.

State of the beaches

This has been the first strong storm of winter, but the beaches of the Malaga coast have generally withstood the onslaught of the waves with barely two months to go until Easter, a date set when more tourists arrive who, to a large extent, are seeking the beaches of the Costa del Sol.

The main damage from the last couple of days of strong waves is focused on the loss of sand, although the promenades and other infrastructure, such as beach bars, have not suffered major damage.

Strong winds

As for the wind, falling trees, walls, aerials and advertising boards have been reported both in the city and in the coastal municipalities. No reports of personal injuries have been received, for now. Gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour were recorded at Malaga Airport, with a maximum average speed of 55 kilometres per hour. In Benalmádena, the emergency services attended 15 storm-related call-outs during the storm episode. Firefighters doubled the work shift to deal with incidents. In Fuengirola they recorded 20 actions due to falling branches, advertising boards or traffic signs.

High waves

Regarding the sea, the buoy at Malaga port rereported a maximum height of almost 7 metres at 10 pm on Friday, with a significant average of 4 metres and a return period (time between one wave and another) of only six seconds.

The coasts of Marbella have been affected, as every year, by the storm. The mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, has seen for herself the damage that the storm caused in the area. There is hardly any sand left in some areas and some of the accesses to the beach have been affected. The town council estimates that the cost to repair the damage caused so far will be half a million euros.

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