Storm 'Therese' will affect Canary Islands for days

Rain in San Sebastian de La Gomera recently 

Yet another low pressure system is beginning to form north of the Canary Islands and has been named 'Therese'. This depression comes after an unusually cold winter which on the positive side has brought copious rainfalls after several years of drought.

Storm Therese's exact track is still a bit uncertain, but it will most likely affect the Canarian archipelago from Tuesday afternoon, March 17th 2025, and could last until early next week. Usually storms last a day or two but this depression is very slow-moving and long-lasting. Some models suggest it could be right over these islands on Sunday or Monday while beginning fo fill, but that is too far ahead for a reliable forecast.

Anyway it is best to be prepared for intense rainfalls, resulting rockfalls, gusty high winds (predominantly westerly), thunderstorms, very high waves with rough seas and colder than normal temperatures with snow on the highest peaks. At least some disruption can be expected and a few larger events like the 'Tecnologica' festival in Tenerife have already been postponed.

It is expected that several official alerts and warnings will be issued once more detail is known, but it definitely won't be hiking nor beach weather for several days.

You have been warned...

Update March 17th 2026:

The depression is now expected to be situated just W-NW of Madeira on Thursday with a pressure of around 982 hPa. The first warnings for Thursday (below) have been issued by the Spanish meteorological service (aemet.es click this for their latest updates), and further warnings are expected for the following days.

Update March 18th:

Storm Therese is beginning to make its presence felt with La Gomera's Alto de Igualero weather station recording a gust of 108 km/h this morning and rain reported all over the island. The worst is yet to come and La Gomera's island government activated their emergency plan. All walks, trails, paths and all public recreational amenities have been closed. Schools, universities, etc., will close later today for the remainder of the week in all Canary Islands and the public have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel and outdoor activities over the coming days. The Spanish meteorological service Aemet has also issued a special advisory for the Canary islands which states that the adverse weather will continue ''at least'' until Sunday, and looking at the latest weather models I'd say  Monday at least. Below are the extended official Aemet warnings for Friday, but these may change as the situation develops (ed. they did change and I replaced the previously posted ones with the new ones):

Update March 19th, 00:30 am :

The warnings below for Saturday have just been issued:

Update March 19th, 9am:

There are now two more lows near the centre which will be absorbed, with several fronts yet to arrive in the Canaries. Below the OPC chart and the latest satellite image of this impressive system:

IMPORTANT UPDATE lunchtime 19-03-2026:

The AEMET warnings for Friday and Saturday have been upgraded, esp. for La Gomera, with higher orange level warnings for wind and rain. Precipitation tomorrow may be as much as 100mm in 12 hours. I have replaced the previously posted warnings above with the latest ones.

FUTHER UPDATES HERE... in the post published on Sunday 22nnd of March 2026