Winter wonderlands: Spectacular Christmassy footage in mid-autumn

WITH temperatures dropping to as low as -8ºC in the north, parts of Spain remain coated with a thick blanket of snow – not unusual between Madrid and the Pyrénées in deep winter, but exceptionally rare for the first half of November.

Whilst the Mediterranean is chilly at night and 'coat weather' but not yet 'bracing' – colder than usual for the time of year – nearly a foot of snow has been seen in parts of the northern third of the mainland, and not just at high altitudes.

Spectacular photo footage that resembles central Europe in early February has yet to rival the snowmen on the beaches in Dénia and Jávea (Alicante province) seen in the winter of 2016-2017 – the first time this had happened since 1983 – but has certainly made a few viewers further south feel chilled looking at them, and will have left smiles on kids' faces as they got the day off school to go sledging and stage snowball fights.

The first photograph above shows a local resident in the far north-western region of Galicia, digging a path from his house through knee-deep snow in O Cebreiro (Lugo province) in the last week – as a remote inland village, exposed to Atlantic and polar winds entering Spain but without the coastal humidity to prevent it laying, O Cebreiro and its neighbouring municipalities have been waking up to a hand's length of the white stuff on top of their cars and, literally, snowed in.

Slightly further due south, but still to the north of Madrid, the region of Castilla y León is statistically one of the coldest in Spain – land-locked, relatively flat in most places and one of the earliest regions to be hit by polar and Atlantic fronts, temperatures regularly drop down into double figures below zero in the daytime in the heart of winter.

But although it gets cold there in November, it is rare to see dense snowfall for at least another month.

Luckily, certain breeds of livestock, especially when they have been born and raised in cold areas, are fairly resilient and prefer to get a coating of snowflakes than to be kept indoors and unable to graze; such as these cows in a field in the village of Riello (León province) in picture two.

Cities are usually among the last places to wake up to a winter wonderland, given that they are less exposed, and if they do, it is usually a light coating in around February which disappears later in the day (surprisingly, in most of Spain, the weather tends to be warmer in January than in February, with occasional freak springlike days or, at least, bright sunshine and warmth for a few hours in the middle of the day).

But as the third picture shows, the famous city wall in the ancient and beautiful provincial capital of Ávila – in Castilla y León, and a short train ride from Madrid which is more than worth the day trip – formed the backdrop to a healthy dusting of snow earlier this week.

Other photos have been taken by regional reporters in the Galicia province of Ourense, where a snow plough was seen in the early morning on the A-52 motorway in the A Gudiña area and on the N-IV national highway in the city of Lugo - two of the 47 trunk roads across the country which were coated in snow in the last week - a frosty rural landscape in O Cañizo, and even as far south as the province of Cuenca in the east, which sits between those of Madrid and Valencia.

In the latter, where motorists en route between the capital and Spain's third-largest city notice a sudden plummet in the mercury on their halfway service-station pit-stop, a splendid Christmassy landscape over the hilltop village of Buenache de Alarcón (fifth picture) showed the result of a 'yellow' weather alert and forecasts of up to eight inches (20 centimetres) being 'highly probable', and 'guaranteed' at altitudes of over 1,500 metres.

In the Basque Country, snow has been falling at altitudes of around 700 metres or above, although to a limited extent, given the region's extensive coastline where snow would be incredibly rare.

The same is partly true for the northern coastal regions of Cantabria and Asturias – wind and rain hit the latter's largest city, Oviedo, but no snow settled – although further south in both regions, closer to Castilla y León, the snow was knee-deep in many rural parts.

Picture four, taken by the town hall in the village of Somiedo, Asturias, shows a main country road around a foot and a half (about 45 centimetres) deep in snow and down to one lane, whilst the small cluster of homes over the brow of the hill appear almost obscured – a Christmas card scene which could just as easily have come out of rural England during some of its harshest winters.

For those on the south and east coasts or in the Balearic and Canary Islands, a coat over the usual couple of thin layers will do for going out for a walk; perhaps gloves, but these are not a frequently-worn accessory in those areas, and although rain is expected on the Mediterranean over the next week or so, daytime temperatures are forecast to stay between 13ºC and 19ºC and not to drop into single figures at night.

Those looking at the above scenes from these traditionally-sunny coasts may be feeling relieved, or perhaps a little jealous.

But in another month or so and through to about late March, plenty of snow will be out there for those who live in parts of Spain that only witness it about once a decade by heading a little further uphill and inland: the provinces of Granada (Andalucía) and Teruel (Aragón) are both home to popular ski slopes, and there's no reason why non-skiers cannot go to either just to get their fix of a bit of Yuletide scenery.

In fact, in either of these destinations – Javalambre and Valdelinares (Teruel) and the Sierra Nevada (Granada) – you can go sledging even if you're not fussed on skiing.

As yet, no news of rail traffic being disrupted or flights delayed or cancelled due to snow has been reported, and the powdery whiteness is expected to reduce or disappear in all but very high-altitude areas soon.

And you thought Spain was all about getting a tan on palm-fringed beaches!

But if you moved here just for the weather, heat and sun are pretty much guaranteed daily nationwide from around mid-June to early September.