Tuesday, 06 October 2015 07:09

Gran Canaria Weather: Understanding Alerts and Warnings

Rain in Gran Canaria: Rare, but it happens Rain in Gran Canaria: Rare, but it happens www.photosgrancanaria.com

Gran Canaria's weather alert system can cause confusion because of different alert levels and colour codes. Here's exactly how it works.

There are two different warning systems that affect Gran Canaria and the Canary Islands, issued by different government departments.

Local weather warnings

The Dirección General de Seguridad y Emergencias del Gobierno de Canarias is the local extreme weather warning system and is the one that the locals take most notice of. It is activated by unusual weather conditions as well as other incidents such as oil spills, forest fires and conditions that create high fire risks. Canary Government alerts tend to be detailed and are most often issued during the winter to cover episodes of strong rainfall and / or wind.

The alerts are issued on paper and don't use a colour code.

The Canary Government's weather alert system has three levels:

Prelalerta (prealert), alerta (alert) and alerta máxima (maximum alert).

Spanish weather warnings

The Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) is the Spanish National Weather Service and it issues colour coded avisos if adverse weather phenomena are forecast.

AEMET avisos are automatically generated if exceptional weather is forecast, but it doesn't take the risk to the general population into account. For example, a temperature forecast of 34ºC or above triggers an automatic yellow aviso.

Other weather events that trigger avisos are exceptional waves, high levels of airborne dust, extreme temperatures and tropical storms.

Here's what the colours mean.

Green: No adverse weather forecast.

Yellow: No weather risk for the general population, although there may be risks associated with some activities and in areas vulnerable to the effects of adverse weather (such as large urban areas). 

Orange: There is significant weather risk (unusual weather conditions that could lead to risk to people going about everyday activities) .

Red: The weather is extremely risk ( extreme weather phenomena of exceptional intensity and a high level of risk to the general population). Panic!!

Alex says: While it may sometimes seem silly to issue a weather alert or warning when conditions don't seem to be all that extreme, remember that Gran Canaria rarely get's real weather and its infrastructure and locals aren't prepared for it. Better safe than sorry.

Source: Canarias 7 article and AEMET website

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Tip of the day

  • The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!
    The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!

    If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

    In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

    A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

    However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

    A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

    Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

    We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

    To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

    Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

    Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

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