What changes on Wednesday for residents and visitors on La Palma?
The Consejería de Educación, the Canary Islands education department, has ordered online classes for schools on La Palma and La Graciosa on Wednesday 11 November. It is following advice from the Dirección General de Emergencias, the Canaries' emergency agency.
Families on both islands should expect lessons from home. The reports published so far do not say how the lessons will work.
Visitors will barely notice the school change, but they will notice the weather. The authorities advise against unnecessary journeys in exposed areas.
Walkers should skip summits and forests during the hours of strongest wind. The authorities urge extra care in barrancos (ravines) and in areas prone to flooding.
A quick walk around your accommodation is worthwhile too. The authorities ask people to secure objects on balconies and roofs and to keep clear of trees, walls and flimsy structures.
How strong will the wind and rain be on La Palma?
The Canarian government has declared a rain alert for La Palma from 03:00 on Wednesday. The forecast says 30 millimetres or more could fall in one hour, and 60 millimetres in 12 hours.
For wind, La Palma is on the emergency agency's highest alert level. Gusts of up to 140 km/h are possible in the north and east, and up to 120 km/h in the west.
The night into Wednesday and the early morning will be the hardest. From 09:00 the wind should ease gradually.
AEMET, the state weather service, has an orange rain warning for Wednesday from 03:00 to 18:00. It puts the figures at 30 litres per square metre in one hour and 100 litres in 12 hours, mainly on the summits and the eastern and western slopes.
For wind, AEMET has orange from 00:00 to 18:00 with 110 km/h, and above 120 km/h in mid-altitude areas, on summits and on open coasts. A yellow coastal warning also runs from 00:00 to 18:00, with a southwesterly wind of force 7 and four-metre seas from the west.
The figures from the emergency agency and AEMET differ. The two bodies run separate warning systems, which do not always trigger at the same time.
What applies on the other islands on Wednesday?
On Tenerife, AEMET has an orange wind warning of 110 km/h and a yellow rain warning until 18:00. Around Teide National Park and the Corona Forestal, the government expects gusts of up to 136 km/h.
La Gomera and El Hierro are under an orange wind alert of 100 km/h from 00:00 to 17:59. On Gran Canaria the orange warning of 100 km/h covers the whole day.
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have an orange warning of 90 km/h from 06:00 to 20:59. The remaining islands have been under a wind alert since 18:00 on Tuesday 10 November.
For rain, El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are on pre-alert. Up to 20 millimetres in one hour is possible on El Hierro, La Gomera and Tenerife, and locally up to 15 millimetres on the other three.
The school measure is confirmed only for La Palma and La Graciosa. No reports of online classes on other islands have been published.
Who decides on school closures, and how often has it happened?
The basis is PEFMA, the Canaries' emergency plan for adverse weather, adopted by Decreto 18/2014 of 20 March. It has three levels: pre-alert, alert and highest alert.
The emergency agency declares these levels, normally based on AEMET forecasts. The education department decides on classes on the agency's recommendation.
According to media reports, Charles is the second cancellation of in-person classes because of bad weather this school year.
La Palma is almost always among the first islands affected. In April 2025, during Storm Nuria, Tenerife, La Palma and La Graciosa switched to classes without attendance.
During Storm Claudia, in-person classes on La Palma stopped from 13:30 on 12 November 2025. On 13 November 2025 that applied to all the islands.
In March 2026, during Storm Therese, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa moved to online classes on 19 March. During Claudia, La Palma also closed hiking trails and forest tracks after activating Peinpal, the island emergency plan.
What is still unknown, and what happens next?
The reports do not give the number of schools or pupils affected, or the school stages. No end date for the measure and no plan for Thursday 12 November has been published.
There is no information on flights, ferries, road closures or sea links to La Graciosa. Anyone who must travel on Wednesday should ask the airline or ferry operator.
Damage and incidents are unknown, as the reports appeared before the event. AEMET calls the further development of the system uncertain, and says it is linked to the earlier Storm Bruna.
The emergency agency will keep watching the situation and adjust the alert levels if needed. The government expressly does not rule out raising the level.
On La Palma the wind should ease from 09:00 on Wednesday, and the orange AEMET warnings end at 18:00. In earlier cases the education department asked people to follow official announcements, because measures can change.