The meteorological services and Civil Protection of Catalonia have asked the population to take extreme precautions in the face of the possibility of violent weather in an episode of intense rain accompanied by hail expected for this Thursday and the coming days, which will also cause a drastic drop in temperatures.
The territorial warnings affect points in Central Catalonia, the coastal zone, the metropolitan area and the northeast of the country. The storm has also caused the red flag to fly due to currents and strong waves on a large part of the coast, and has caused the death of a 50-year-old man on Cunit beach, where he was bathing despite the red flag being raised.
Civil Protection has activated the pre-alert of the Inuncat plan and now places the maximum risk of violent weather during the next few hours in Vallès Oriental, Maresme, La Selva and Osona. In these regions there is a probability of stones more than two centimeters in diameter, wind gusts exceeding 90 kilometers per hour, cracks and tornadoes.
The warning comes after the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat) has issued warnings of violent weather with a maximum danger level of 6 out of 6. The last warning communicated by the meteorological service, valid until mid-afternoon, also contemplated the possibility of hail of more than two centimeters and gusts of strong wind.
The service now places the entire Catalan territory on a yellow warning due to the intensity of the rain. According to the meteorological service, the showers will be accompanied by storms and violent weather phenomena.
In addition, the warning from the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya will extend at least until noon on Saturday. Friday is expected to be the strongest day, with a warning due to the intensity of rain that will rise to high danger in the regions of Baix Penedès, Tarragonès and Baix Camp.
In addition, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation has intensified surveillance against the possibility of sudden local floods in ravines and streams in the Ebro basin.
The radical change in weather in Catalonia with storms and a drop in temperatures comes from a northern front that will also affect other autonomous communities, after a few weeks of intense heat.
On the other hand, Civil Protection has reported this Thursday that bathing is prohibited on the beaches of Cunit, Cubelles and Calafell, and in most of those in the city of Tarragona due to strong waves and poor state of the sea. On the beaches of Tarragona red flags are flying this morning on the beaches of Miracle, Arrabassada, Llarga (3), Capellans, Cossis, Savinosa, Waikiki and Calabecs.
The organization reminds that with a red flag, bathing is prohibited due to the danger that waves, strong currents or the rough state of the sea pose to people's integrity.
Non-compliance is frequent, and a 50-year-old man of Spanish nationality died this Thursday on the Levante de Cunit beach (Tarragona), while bathing under a red flag.
The beach lifeguard managed to pull him unconscious from the water and performed resuscitation maneuvers on him. The Medical Emergency System (SEM) sent a medical ambulance and another basic ambulance to the beach, but could not save his life.
With this victim, 20 people have died on Catalan beaches since the bathing campaign officially began on June 15, according to data from the Generalitat's Civil Protection.
