As people pulled on blankets to keep warm, Spain pulled on its own
blanket of snow on Thursday, painting the landscape white. The snow could cover up to half the country in the coming days, forecasters said, AFP reported.

“If the forecasts are confirmed, we could be facing one of the most
extensive snowfalls in recent years,” said Ruben del Campo, spokesman for
Spain’s AEMET weather agency.

The capital as well as the central region of Castilla La Mancha, was shrouded
in white by Thursday afternoon with the rare snowfall brought on by Storm
Filomena. The snowfall stopped all movements on the road, disrupting traffic on
nearly 200 roads and delaying trains.

While extremely low temperatures in Madrid pushed the people inside the
comfort of their homes, the ducks in the city’s Retiro park were seen playfully
waddling across the frozen boating lake.

Spanish football player Sergio Ramos posted a video on Twitter, shirtless,
flaunting his body, psyched with the weather, as snowflakes were gently falling
down in a stadium.

Spain is on alert for snowfall which is expected to last till Sunday and
mainly affect the central, northern and eastern regions.

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An unofficial record of -34.1°Celsius was recorded at the Clot
de la Llanca ski station in the central Pyrenees on Wednesday.

Storm Filomena also brought intense rain and strong winds to the
southwestern coast of the peninsula and the Canary Islands, AEMET said.