Snow causes chaos in Spain and Portugal

Heavy snow has hit northern Spain and Portugal while rains and winds have battered normally sunny resort areas.

The Spanish meteorological agency said 35 of 51 provinces were on snow alert today.

Badly hit was the north-western region of Galicia, where several roads were cut off and schools forced to cancel classes.

Heavy snow also fell in neighbouring regions of north-eastern Portugal, closing roads and schools.

Torrential rains and gales have lashed much of Spain over the past two days, affecting normally sunny tourist destinations such as Tenerife in the Canary Islands and Malaga in southern Spain.

Spanish airport authority AENA said poor weather in northern Europe led to flight delays to and from Madrid.