Special units of the Spanish authorities had to rescue several people due to unusual snowfall on the island of Mallorca, a popular resort in the Mediterranean. About one and a half meters of snow fell in the mountainous area of the Sierra de Tramuntana in the northwestern part of the island, and more than a dozen public roads became completely impassable. Authorities have received several alerts of people trapped in areas blocked by snow barriers, for example, a family of four was dropped by helicopter from a mountain shelter. In addition to the gendarmerie and firefighters, the emergency unit of the Spanish army is also involved in road rescue and cleaning.
According to the Spanish Meteorological Service (Aemet), the unusually cold weather is caused by the Joliet weather front, which brought strong cooling, winds and precipitation to much of the Iberian Peninsula as well as the Balearic Islands.
The minimum temperature dropped below minus 10 degrees Celsius in the cities of Lleida, Teruel, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Avila, Segovia, Soria and Zamora. A snowfall warning has been issued for the provinces of Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and Leon, the Basque Country and Navarre.
