Island braced for yet more bad weather after day of heavy rain

The Balearics was put on full storm alert yesterday as the first wave of the horrific storms which have battered the Canary Islands, killing six people and causing millions of pounds worth of damage, moved across the region. Sea ports started to close as the afternoon developed and the weather took a turn for the worse, leaving ferries and fishing fleets stranded in port. The worst of the torrential rain, forecast to reach 60-80 litres per square metre this morning, is expected to fall on Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera, the latter of which were hit by the worst of the weather last week. Over night winds reached speeds of 80 kilometres an hour and today are expected to drop slightly to around the 60 kilometres per hour mark. Yesterday some of the few ferries which did set sail to the mainland were diverted to other ports, while others were simply cancelled. This morning the shipping companies will assess the situation before any ferries set sail. Flights into Ibiza also suffered delays yesterday. Sources for Ibiza Council said the situation “is a serious emergency and we're going to need all the help we can get to return to normal once the storms have passed.” All of the emergency services were on full alert yesterday and are expected to remain so for today at least until the storms pass. Across the Balearics, local councils have emergency teams of engineers and repair workers on stand-by. All of the units are now well prepared after having to cope with last November's hurricane storms from which most parts of the island are still trying to recover. The return of gale force winds and torrential rain will come as a set back to all the repair work. The storms are expected to batter the Balearics and the mainland for most of the week, dying away over the weekend.