cancelling

Storm Therese is battering the Canary Islands with heavy rain, 100km/h winds and snow at high altitudes, causing flight cancellations and travel disruption, with some holidaymakers even cancelling their breaks

Many people book a holiday to Spain for some much-needed sunshine, however some are now choosing to cancel their trips as Storm Therese is currently causing chaos across the Canary Islands, particularly Tenerife and La Palma.

The storm is currently delivering an unusual combination of heavy rain, 100 km/h (62 mph) winds, and substantial snow at high altitudes. Authorities have declared a full-scale emergency in Tenerife, describing it as one of the most severe storms to hit the archipelago in over a decade. Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET, has issued several alerts that will stay active throughout the weekend. Orange (high risk) warnings have been dispatched for northern Tenerife and parts of La Palma due to wind gusts reaching 90–100 km/h and heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, yellow warnings are in effect across all seven islands for rain, thunderstorms, and choppy seas with waves reaching up to 6 metres (20 feet).

Unusually for this time of year, significant snowfall has also covered Mount Teide and surrounding peaks above 1,800–2,000 metres.

The weather drama has caused many Tenerife tourists to admit they ‘can’t wait’ to get home.

One Tenerife resident, known as @theknightstrider1 on TikTok, took to his account on Saturday (March 21) to discuss the ‘wild’ weather in the area.

The car hire and bar owner filmed himself as he said: “The Tenerife weather is just wild at the moment. It’s on for another at least four days this crazy weather. He explained the Santa Cruz de Tenerife area had just experienced a “torrential downpour”, but then he turned the other way to reveal “blue skies with the sun shining”. However, he noted, within the next minute, the rain is “bouncing down” again.

The Tenerife resident also mentioned the drains “just can’t handle” the rainfall and they end up “bursting up” fairly regularly.

He continued: “The good news is, it is mixed. I suppose that’s kind of good news, you can get a bit of sunshine, but it was absolutely hammering it down a minute ago.

“So there you go, another four days or so of this. If you’re here, expect a mixed bag – heavy rain, a bit of sunshine now… towards Las Americas looks alright. But you’re going to want to do your indoor activities.”

He stated when the sun is out, it’s “about 22 degrees”, but it’s “around 18 degrees” in the shade, the rain and the wind.

Numerous followers amongst his 115,000-strong audience who were heading on Tenerife holidays confessed they were concerned about their break.

One person commented: “When will it be finished? We come Friday.”

Whilst another added: “Praying it passes by Tuesday.”

A third chimed in: “I’m coming Monday, really hope it picks up!”

Nevertheless, others admitted they were calling off their breaks as the Tenerife resident posted another clip of the rainfall, with one person writing: “We cancelled our week away at the last minute.”

Another replied: “Snap – we’ve rebooked for April 12 onwards.” The storm has resulted in widespread cancellations and safety shutdowns across the islands. Over 40 flights were cancelled or diverted by Friday, 20 March, mainly at Tenerife North and South airports. Travellers are urged to verify their flight status via Flightradar24 or their airline.

Numerous individuals on TikTok and Facebook have branded Tenerife South Airport as ‘chaos’, claiming that the luggage queue is taking hours and some people are missing their flights.

Others have also alleged that the E-gates aren’t functioning and hundreds of people have been queuing “to see one passport officer who was having to re-scan face/finger prints”.

Sharing another video from Tenerife South Airport, @theknightstrider1 described it as “rammed” in the caption and said arrivals was particularly crowded so holidaymakers should “be prepared”.

He added in the clip: “If you’re wondering if Tenerife is busy, it certainly is. This is the arrivals area and it’s absolutely rammed. People are still pouring in.

“If you come to the airport, I do recommend you get here nice and early if you’re leaving, there’s bound to be queues when you’ve got this many people around.”

Aena said in a comment: “In Spain border control is the responsibility of the National Police, not the airport. The airport has provided the necessary infrastructure for the implementation of the Entry Exit System but its availability depends primarily on the number and performance of police officers at the border post.”

When will Storm Therese be over?

Storm Therese is expected to subside across most of its affected areas by Monday, 23 March 2026. While the worst of the weather occurred between Thursday and Saturday, some impacts and weather warnings will persist through early next week.

Storm effects are currently continuing today (Sunday March 22) with rain and strong winds. Orange wind warnings (up to 100 km/h) remain in place for Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro, and western La Palma.

Weather is forecast to “ease off” on Monday (March 23) with wind speeds dropping and rainfall decreasing significantly. However, yellow and orange warnings remain active for several islands, and some schools in El Hierro, La Gomera, and parts of Tenerife will stay closed as a precaution. Conditions are expected to improve throughout the week.

CYPRUS has been drawn into the Iran conflict – which has had a knock on effect on holidays.

The European country was hit by an Iranian drone earlier this month, after landing on RAF Akrotiri base on the island.

This led to a temporary closure of the airport, cancelled flights and a number of British schools.

Despite this, Cyprus remains on the safe to travel list, with no further escalations and flights back to normal.

The only warning on the UK Foreign Office website is in regards to “regional escalation poses […] has led to travel disruption.”

However Cyprus is seeing a drop in tourism, after it became the only European country affected by the conflict.

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Local business owner Vassilis Georgiou told the Guardian that people are “thinking twice” about visiting.

He explained: “It may be early days but I’ve been here since 1992 and suddenly hoteliers are saying bookings are down.”

Nick Aristou, who owns three hotels in Cyprus, said they’d had around 200 cancellations this month.

He told the i: “Most of the cancellations, I would say about 90 per cent, are all for March, about 10 per cent for April.”

And Thanos Hotels’ Panos Kyprianou, with four hotels on the island, said cancellations were coming from Brits with 65 cancellations for April.

Hr added: “Right now, April, is about 10 per cent behind what it was last year.”

But Agia Napa Municipal Sectary Mr Fotos Kikillos said while they were “hearing of cancellations” he reaffirmed that life was still “very safe” on the island.

He added: “People are enjoying themselves – there’s no sense of fear. The last thing we want in Cyprus is to be dragged into this war.”

With the tourist season officially starting in the beginning of April, it is expected that everything will be back to normal on the island, despite fears of summer cancellations.

Last week, Cyprus’ foreign minster Constantinos Kombos told the BBC: “I don’t think that anyone should be in two minds, given the fact that the situation, as I have been describing right now as we speak, has been perfectly normal.

“All activity is normal. Air traffic is going back to 100 per cent what it was before the incident.

“So I don’t think this is something that should be affecting people’s decisions.”

“After all, this is part of the regional situation. It’s not the Republic of Cyprus that has been targeted. It has been the British bases.

“And the security factor in terms of people feeling that everything is being done that is humanly possible to protect both citizens, residents, and visitors to Cyprus. The security apparatus is in place to try to do exactly that.”

Cyprus is one of the more affordable areas of Europe to visit, especially now.

According to Cirium, there are around 125 scheduled flights from the UK to Cyprus over the Easter holidays, working out to 25,000 passengers.

If you were to travel there next month, seven-night holiday packages can be found for as little as £169 each.

Even two-week holidays can be found for under £300 each.

Ryanair currently has flights to Cyprus for around £25 each way next month too.

MORE than a thousand flights are still being cancelled a day due to the ongoing Iran conflict.

Countries in the Middle East – such as the UAE, Qatar and Oman – have been dragged into the crisis since last week.

And despite some relief flights now operating, thousands of Brits are still facing cancelled flights.

According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, 2,263 across the world have been cancelled today.

This includes more than 100 flights to and from the UK today, with 53 departing flights and 54 arriving flights.

The majority are to the UAE, so Dubai and Abu Dhabi, along with Qatar, Israel, Bahrain and Kuwait.

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They warned: “We anticipate cancellations will continue for at least a week, as reported by the airlines.”

Emirates, who operate out of Dubai, is still suspending operations, said they were offering a “reduced flight schedule until further notice”.

They warned: “These flights are open for booking, and we are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority.

“Customers transiting in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating.”

Anyone without a confirmed flight booking is being warned not to travel to the airport.

Qatar Airways has still suspended flights from Doha due to the closure of the Qatari airspace, with another update tomorrow at 6am.

Some limited relief flights are being operated from Muscat to Europe, including a flight to London Heathrow.

However the airline also warns: “Passengers are kindly requested not to proceed to the airport unless they have received an official notification from Qatar Airways for these flights.”

All Etihad Airways flights are suspended until at least 6am tomorrow.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has launched some limited repositioning and repatriation flights, which has include the UK.

British Airways says they are “unable to operate flights from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv”.

Some limited routes are operating from Muscat.

Virgin Atlantic has relaunched flights from Dubai and Riyadh.

The Sun’s Travel Expert has answered all of your other travel questions.

We’ve also explained the latest safety advice for Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt.