STORM Austen is set to lash northern Spain with winds of more than 100km/h and waves of up to seven metres over the next 24 hours.
Austen is the first named storm of the 2026-27 season. It was named by the UK’s Met Office because of its expected high impact, rather than by the south-western European group that Spain belongs to.
Western France and the UK will bear the brunt of its rain, wind and heavy seas.
The storm is deepening rapidly in the Atlantic, a process known as explosive cyclogenesis, or a ‘weather bomb’. At mid-latitudes, the term is used when pressure at the centre of a storm falls by 20 hPa within 24 hours.
Austen is forming under a polar jet stream that has strengthened in recent days, which is also driving it quickly towards Europe.
According to the latest European model forecasts, the centre of the storm will reach land between Britain and France on Friday.
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In Spain, the effects will be felt in the far north today and tomorrow. This afternoon, south-westerly winds will pick up in Galicia and western Asturias, with gusts of more than 100km/h or more.
The storm will whip up a short but powerful sea storm along the Galician and Cantabrian coasts. Waves in Galicia will reach up to 4 metres by late tonight.
The worst conditions are expected on Friday, particularly until the afternoon, with waves of five to seven metres. Aemet has issued orange warnings, and some isolated waves could reach 12 metres.
Austen will pass quickly, and sea conditions should improve from west to east on Friday evening. The heaviest rain will fall in north-west Galicia, with patchier showers across the rest of the far north and the Balearics.
Once Austen has passed, forecasters see no widespread rain in the short or medium term, and parts of Spain could see heat in the middle of the day.
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