This footage was filmed and produced 10 March 2024.

Rescues in the mountains, people missing at sea, and passengers trapped in their cars. The snow, rain, and windstorm that has hit the Peninsula this weekend has put several citizens in difficulty both in the mountains and on the roads across the country.

In La Rioja, the specialists from the Mountain Service of the Guardia Civil had to rescue and assist two mountaineers swept away by a snow avalanche on the north face of San Pico Lorenzo (La Rioja), an operation that also involved personnel at the Valdezcaray ski resort.

The images shared by the agents show the extreme weather conditions in which the rescue took place. Both mountaineers showed symptoms of hypothermia and one of them was semi-buried in the snow after the avalanche that broke off from the north face of San Pico Lorenzo.

Avalanches, also known as avalanches, are rapidly downhill movements of a large mass of snow, ice, earth, or rocks and can be very dangerous for those who happen to be in the mountains at that time.

They usually occur in mountains and hills and in regions with significant accumulations of snow and are formed by various factors, including weather conditions (such as intense precipitation), variations in temperature, slope of the terrain, vegetation, stability of the substrate, and human intervention.

Rescue of 7 passengers in three trapped vehicles
The Civil Guard rescued during the early hours of this Sunday the seven occupants of three vehicles that had become trapped on kilometer 23 of the SO-615 road (Garray-La Rioja limit), in the municipality of Las Aldehuelas (Soria), due to snowdrifts.

At that point, three vehicles were blocked by the snowdrifts when several Civil Guard agents arrived after receiving a call after midnight, according to sources from the Government Sub-delegation. The arrival of a snowplow at 3:40 am allowed the rescue of seven people, three of them minors aged (7, 5, and 2 years).

The road, located in the Soria region of Tierras Altas, continues to be at a black risk level due to the snow.

The adverse weather conditions this weekend, the risk of avalanches, snow, rain, and strong gusts of wind are causing a difficult situation on some roads in Spain. The most advisable, according to the General Traffic Directorate (DGT), is to inform about the state of the roads and the weather forecast before starting the trip.