The Canary Islands had over 3,000 lightning strikes last night due to storms

The Canary Islands registered more than 3,000 lightning strikes last night due to the Atlantic front that is passing across the archipelago that is forecast to bring intense rainfall throughout today, Friday. Specifically, between 9pm last night and 7am this morning, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) recorded 3,151 lightning bolts.

Most of the lightning was recorded in La Palma and nearby areas; however, the storm is affecting all of the islands. Aemet is not ruling out that the electrical discharges will increase today as the storm is advancing from west to east towards Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

This is why the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies has put a weather warning in place from 9:00am this morning (Friday) for La Palma, La Gomera, and Tenerife, and the rest of the islands are on pre-alert for heavy rains.

Aemet has activated the orange warning in the east of La Palma from 9.00am, and from midday in La Gomera and in the north and metropolitan area of ​​Tenerife, with forecasts of rain up to 30 litres per square metre in an hour, and up to 60 litres over 12 hours. In the case of La Palma, a yellow warning for storms is added to the rain warning that will continue until 3.00pm this afternoon.

It is also expected that this storm will bring the first snow to the islands in the peaks of Los Roques de Muchachos in La Palma and Teide National Park in Tenerife, although it won’t be heavy.

In El Hierro, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, the north, west, and south of La Palma and Lanzarote, the weather warning is yellow from 9.00am today due to rains of up to 15 litres per square metre in an hour and 40 litres in 12 hours.