Weekend weather across Malaga and Spain: what's forecast?

With the passing of Storm Kristin over Spain, all the stormy weather seen this week will tend to subside. In fact, Spain's state meteorological agency (Aemet) has no active warnings for rain or wind in the Costa del Sol province.

However, rain is forecast for Saturday morning in some inland areas, mainly around Antequera, and Sunday afternoon in the Axarquia and other inland municipalities, although lighter than on previous days. This will be a prelude to what is expected next week, when Aemet has raised the probability of rainfall throughout the province to 100 per cent, at least until Wednesday.

Nationwide, a total of 34 provinces across 14 regions are under weather warnings this Friday for wind, snow, high waves and rain. In Galicia, the rainfall is likely to be persistent and locally heavy, with waves of up to nine metres expected, triggering a red alert (extraordinary risk) for A Coruña and Pontevedra, according to Aemet's latest forecast.

The swell will also put Almeria, Asturias (western and eastern coastlines), Cantabria (coastal areas), Lugo, Guipúzcoa, Vizcaya and Melilla on orange alert (important risk). The wind and wave warnings will drop to yellow level in Granada, the Balearic Islands (Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera), Tarragona and Murcia (Campo de Cartagena and Mazarrón coast).

Wind will activate yellow weather warnings in Teruel, Asturias (western and southwestern coasts, the Cantabrian mountains and the Picos de Europa mountains), the Balearics (Menorca), Cantabria (Liébana), Ávila, León, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid, Zamora, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Toledo, Tarragona, Cáceres, A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra, Madrid (mountains), Murcia (high plateau, northwest, Guadalentín Valley, Lorca and Águilas), Alicante, Castellón, Valencia and Melilla. As for Almeria, Granada, Jaen and Albacete, the windy weather warning will be raised to orange.

Ourense and Pontevedra will be under a yellow warning for rain. The same level applies to Huesca, Ávila, León, Segovia, Zamora, Lleida, Lugo, Ourense and Madrid (mountains), but in these locations it's for snow, not rain, due to significant snow accumulations in mountainous areas of the northern half of the Iberian peninsula.

Aemet forecasts that the Atlantic circulation will continue to dominate the weather across the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic Islands this Friday. Furthermore, Friday is seeing the passage of fronts and the entry of a maritime polar air mass in northern Spain, bringing predominantly cloudy or overcast skies.

There will be rainfall across the peninsula, except in the far southeast, more likely during the afternoon in the Mediterranean areas, including the Costa del Sol. The highest accumulations are expected in Galicia and surrounding areas, with the probability of persistent, locally heavy rain, occasionally accompanied by thunderstorms and light hail.

Snow is expected across large areas of the northern half of the country, primarily the northern plateau and its surroundings, at an altitude of 1,200 or 1,500 metres, which could drop to 800 or 1,000 metres by the end of the day in the northwest quadrant, with significant accumulations in mountain areas.

In the Canary Islands, skies will be cloudy in the north and partly cloudy elsewhere. Fog banks are also likely in mountainous areas along the Atlantic slope.

Maximum temperatures will decrease across most of the Iberian peninsula, but will rise in the far northeast and remain relatively unchanged in the Alboran Sea, the southwest quadrant and Spain's islands. Minimum temperatures will fall in the southern third of the peninsula, Galicia and the western part of the Central System mountain range and its surroundings, with increases in the northeastern third, the eastern coast and the Balearic Islands, but little change elsewhere. Light frosts are expected at high altitudes in the northern half of Spain, becoming more widespread and intense in the Pyrenees and the southeast part of the country.

Moderate westerly and southwesterly winds will prevail across mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, reaching strong intensities with very strong gusts in the Cantabrian mountains, the northern half of the Atlantic coast, the Alboran Sea and most of the southern plateau and the eastern third of the peninsula. Locally hurricane-force winds are possible in high mountain areas of the far southeast, while moderate, northerly winds will blow in the Canary Islands.