Snow falls in Spain after long drought and early heat wave

Snow fell in parts of northern Spain on Friday after months without any rain and high temperatures which made it feel more like summer than spring. The freak snowfall happened in La Raya, a mountainous area of Asturias, while hailstones and heavy rain fell in Mediterranean parts of Spain including Catalonia and Valencia after months without a drop of precipitation. Spain has registered the driest start to a year since records started, the Spanish state weather forecaster AEMET said on Wednesday, with less than half the average rainfall during the first four months of 2023. So far this year, Spain has recorded 11 hotter-than-normal days, more than twice the number typically observed during a full year.