The entry of an air mass of Arctic origin into the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, with a strong temperature drop and possible snowfall in the northern area, can lead to serious traffic problems and road closures in the autonomous communities of Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra and the north and east of Castilla y León, together with the province of Huesca. The Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) has asked motorists to check the weather forecast and the state of the roads before starting a journey, as these snowfalls can affect both main and secondary roads.
The report from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) specifies that snowfall could begin as early as Wednesday night, but that the biggest problems will be expected in the last hours of Thursday 20th and in the morning of Friday 21st. Traffic has provided a list of motorways and motorways, roads with high traffic, which could be affected by these snowfalls. These are the AP-66 (Asturias and León), the N-630 (Asturias-León), the N-621 (Cantabria-León), the A-67 (Cantabria), the AP-68 (Bilbao-Zaragoza), the AP-1 (Burgos-Irun) and the A-15 (Navarre).
The DGT also recalled the need, if you intend to drive in areas characterized by heavy snowfall, to equip yourself with all-weather winter tyres, or chains if their use is necessary. To find out about the state of the roads you can contact the usual Traffic channels on their social networks: on its website www.dgt.es and by calling 011. They are also available to traffic information providers (navigators) at the national traffic information access point (https://nap.dgt.es/).
Those responsible for road traffic do not rule out the adoption of some measures to guarantee circulation and road safety, such as limiting traffic to heavy vehicles, prohibiting the passage of vehicles without winter tyres, all-season tires or chains, limiting traffic speed and prohibiting overtaking, making preventive total cuts and establishing the obligation to use alternative detours.
“Traffic also has 32 automated and monitored diversions on several roads ready for use by baggage trucks, to activate them if necessary due to the arising winter road conditions,” the DGT reported.
Among the DGT’s recommendations, the one to allow the passage of maintenance workers and to guarantee road safety stands out. To this end, he listed some fundamental rules such as leaving the left lane free to allow the passage of road maintenance vehicles and snowplows, paying attention to the signs on the light panels and following the instructions of the agents of the Civil Guard Traffic Group, adopting the utmost caution when traveling through the areas and roads affected by this forecast and knowing the colors of the snow and its driving conditions.
To manage and regulate traffic in these winter traffic episodes, the DGT has eight Traffic Management Centers active 24 hours a day, from where actions on the road network in their areas of influence are coordinated through the equipment and means at its disposal and which allow it to know the traffic status and communicate accidents to motorists.
