WEATHER SNAP

By Humphrey Carter JUST as we were starting to get used to the idea that Spring is here and summer is just around the corner, gale force winds battered the Balearic islands, leaving a covering of snow in its wake. kilometre per hour winds swept across the Serra de Alfabia and in Capdepera reached 115 kilometres per hour. In Minorca, where winds peaked at 103 kilometres per hour, and Ibiza the strong winds caused transport chaos, none of the Balearic fishing fleets set sail yesterday, and ferry services were seriously disrupted, as were some flights. Two flights, one from Ibiza to Barcelona and the other to Madrid, were delayed by nearly two hours while a flight from the UK to Ibiza landed one hour late because of the gale-force winds. The peaks of the Tramuntana mountain range in Majorca were coated in white yesterday after the snap Spring snowfall, some mountain roads were even closed. Elsewhere, there was localised flooding, mainly caused by the torrential rain which fell over night. In Lluc, 45 litres of rain fell per square metre while across Majorca, the average was 20 litres per square metre. Fire fighters in Majorca had a busy day, most of it was spent clearing fallen trees from roads in the Escorca, Manacor and Deya areas but the fire brigade was also called out to help shore up a number of construction sites and clear away debris blown off balconies and roofs. Last night the Port of Mahon, Minorca, remained closed as the Balearics remained on weather alert with cool temperatures and high winds forecast to sweep across the Balearics again today.