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Palma.—Yesterday morning, the group of 50 children aged between 10 and 11 on a field trip from Sant Vicent de Paul des Capiscol school returned to Palma after having been forced to spend the night at Lluc monastery after their coach got snowed in and the road down to Caimari was blocked by heavy snow.

The 122 emergency centre also confirmed that on Wednesday evening, 143 pensioners on an excursion to Sa Calobra were all successfully evacuated from their bus and mini bus by emergency and security service 4x4s from police forces and fire brigades from all over the north of the island in a major rescue operation which continued well into the night.

The 112 emergency centre confirmed that between 1pm on Wednesday and 8am yesterday, it handled and responded to 56 weather related incidents.
The peak time was between 3pm and 8pm when heavy snow began to fall on the mountains causing numerous roads to be closed.
But, it was not just the snow.
The torrential rain also caused serious problems across the island.
11 houses and shops were flooded as were a number of roads, one river burst its banks, a man fell into the sea in Portocolom while talking on his mobile and had to be rescued, a yacht slipped its moorings and three trees were brought down by the gale force winds which also caused the death of the 64-year-old German cyclist.

While Majorca and Minorca have been on level one and two severe weather alert for the past few days, the emergency services were not expecting such heavy rain and snow falls and were caught out in some areas.

Yesterday afternoon, a few roads in the mountains remained closed but the emergency services were able to clear most of the roads as conditions remained dry for the most part.

However, despite their being a let up today, the Balearic Government's Department for Emergencies issued a warning to drivers yesterday to be extremely careful over the next few days because early morning and late evening ice is going to cause problems.

In fact, drivers have been advised to avoid driving at night where possible and check on the weather and road conditions before setting out.
This latest cold snap from Scandinavia is the tail of the one which has brought much of Northern Europe and even parts of mainland Spain to a standstill this week.

It is, however, due to begin moving away from the islands today with temperatures forecast to begin returning to normal for this time of year, although some showers will linger over the weekend.