RED ALERT: Spain’s Canary Islands in ‘extraordinary danger’ as hurricane-force storm set to batter the tourist hotspot

A RED weather alert has been issued for the Canary Islands as Storm Nuria threatens the holiday hotspot with hurricane-force winds.

The Spanish weather agency AEMET has put out its highest alert level and is warning of ‘extraordinary danger’ as winds exceeding 130 km/h are expected to hit eastern La Palma for 12 hours from 5am on Thursday. 

The Canary Islands government has declared a maximum alert situation for La Palma and Tenerife, with alerts also in place for other islands.

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Gran Canaria, La Gomera, El Hierro and Tenerife face orange alerts with wind gusts up to 100 km/h, while Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are under yellow warnings. 

All islands will experience rough seas, with heavy rainfall also expected on the more mountainous islands.

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The mainland won’t escape Nuria’s impact, with yellow alerts issued for Aragon, Navarra, Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Madrid. 

These regions will experience strong winds, rough coastal conditions, and plenty of rainfall.

Thursday will mark the peak of the storm, with conditions beginning to improve on Friday, though winds will remain strong in northern Spain. 

Temperatures will drop across the interior peninsula but rise along the Mediterranean coast, potentially reaching 25C in southeastern areas like Murcia.

Storm Nuria is the fourteenth named storm of the season and the fifth in less than a month, following Jana, Konrad, Laurence and Martinho, though none triggered the rare red alert now in place for La Palma.