White Christmas? Winter storms leave snow on Malaga's mountains and temperatures plummet along the Costa, in pictures

Winter has arrived with a vengeance in Malaga province, which recorded the coldest day of the year on Monday, 22 December. The combination of various meteorological phenomena will make this Christmas one of the coldest in the south of Spain for a long time.

The entry of a mass of polar air has left precipitation in the form of snow in the mountains of natural parks - Tejeda-Almijara and El Torcal - among other places. Accompanied by the westerly wind and the 'terral' (which drags cold air from the interior to the coast), it has left the people of Malaga shivering for most of the day.

The Aemet thermometer in the port of Malaga was barely above 10C at 11am this Monday. The airport thermometer and the one at Aemet's headquarters in El Consúl showed 9C. The maximum forecast in Malaga city on Monday was 14C and only 8C in Antequera.

The Sierra de las Nieves dawned covered in a blanket of white after the snowfall recorded in the last hours of Sunday. The snow has settled in the highest areas of the massif, covering wide slopes and the pine forests of the national park. The wintry spell has left a white landscape in different parts of the mountains. The snow, irregularly spread over the vegetation and the relief, was even visible from Malaga city. Moreover, the contrast between the white of the blanket and the green of the forest has highlighted the mountainous character of the area.

Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the province, the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama natural park also dawned tinged with white on Monday. The snow accumulated on Sunday in the Axarquia district gave way to a sharp drop in temperatures.

The snow set on the highest peaks of the massif, especially around La Maroma, the highest point of the province (2,069 metres altitude), and in La Navachica, in the municipality of Nerja (1,831 metres). Forestry officials have recommended extreme caution on forest tracks.

The first snowfall of the winter has also arrived in El Torcal de Antequera, with layers of ice, very cold weather and snowy views in the high Camorro. The sun could not be seen because of clouds and light rain. Snow also fell in El Torcal.

Julio Maqueda from the Civil Protection service in the province said that the snow would set if it rained throughout Monday, as long as temperatures remained low. Whatever happens, caution is advised due to the danger of ice on the roads and walkways.

Head of the Aemet meteorological centre Jesús Riesco, has said that they do not have the means to measure the magnitude of the snow, so they could only predict that it has accumulated at around 1,300-1,400 metres above sea level. SUR's weather forecaster José Luis Escudero estimates that the accumulation has been around ten centimetres (even more on the summits of the Axarquía). "It is almost impossible to calculate, but it does appear at an altitude of approximately 1,300 metres. There has been a heavy snowfall but not particularly abundant," Sierra de las Nieves environmental experts have said.

In terms of rainfall, the interior of the province once again recorded good accumulations on Sunday, especially in Cañete la Real, which set the record with 27mm. It was closely followed by Bobadilla (upper course of the Guadalhorce), with over 26mm; Archidona (in the same area), with 24; Jubrique (the Genal river), 23; Cortes de la Frontera and Ronda (22); Fuente de Piedra and Ardales (the Turón river, 21); and many other points with 20mm, according to the automated network of rain gauges of Hidrosur, dependent on the Junta de Andalucía.

It is not surprising that the reservoirs have captured another seven million cubic metres in the last few days - equivalent to two months' consumption in Malaga city.

These meteorological conditions will continue throughout the holiday season. "At least until the end of the year, we expect instability and below-normal temperatures. We are going to have quite a few days with precipitation and temperatures below normal," Riesco says.

In fact, rain is expected again on Tuesday and on many more days until the end of the year. Although there may still be variations, this is the most likely scenario for Christmas Eve and for the upcoming Saturday and Sunday, as was the case last year.

According to José Luis Escudero, there will be a succession of fronts with atypical characteristics around the end of the year. Within a few kilometres of each other, they can produce a few litres at one point and more than 30mm at another, as has been seen this past weekend in Mijas, the Axarquia and the Guadalhorce and Guadalteba reservoirs.

"There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to Christmas Eve due to the formation of a storm in the Mediterranean, with humid easterly winds, which may leave some precipitation," he warns. On the other hand, the probability of rain is much lower on Christmas Day. This cold air pocket may form a secondary storm that could once again produce good accumulations over the weekend. "And the cold will stay, which will mean more snow."

Additional reporting by Eugenio Cabezas, Julio Portabales and Antonio J. Guerrero