The alert lowers in level in Valencia this afternoon, but AEMET maintains warnings for rain and hail until 8:00 PM.

The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) uses a warning system for adverse meteorological phenomena (Meteoalert) based on quantitative precipitation thresholds and on the risk assessment for the population and activities. The yellow and orange levels for rain and storms mainly differ in the intensity and the probability of reaching those values and the expected impact.

1. What AEMET warnings are based on

• Meteoalert Plan: warnings are issued for specific geographic areas (regions, coastal zones, mountain systems) and for specific time intervals. They are not warnings “for the entire province” uniformly.
• Specific thresholds by area: as explained by an AEMET delegate in an interview cited by elDiario.es, thresholds are adapted to the local climate and how “accustomed” the population is. For example, for frost or snow, the values that trigger a warning on the coast are lower than in inland areas; something similar happens with rain.
• Risk, not just quantity: AEMET emphasizes that the same precipitation value can represent a different risk depending on orography, urbanization, frequency of those episodes, etc. Therefore, the forecasted amounts are combined with the probability and the possible impact (local flooding, effects on mobility, outdoor activities, etc.).

2. Yellow warning for rain and storms

The yellow level is that of low or moderate “risk”. According to various official notes compiled by regional administrations and by Demócrata, it is usually activated when:

• Intense but not extreme precipitation is expected in short periods of time. For example:
  • Several notes from the Junta de Andalucía and Civil Protection mention yellow warnings for rain with accumulations of 20–25 liters/m² in one hour in certain regions.
  • On other occasions, the yellow warning has been associated with accumulations around 40 liters/m² in 12 hours, as noted in regional emergency notes and Demócrata pieces about episodes in Granada, Almería, or the Valencian Community.
• For storms, the yellow warning reflects:
  • Probability of intense localized showers, accompanied by electrical activity.
  • Possible hail and strong wind gusts, but generally with limited expected impact across the area, as described in several Demócrata reports on yellow warnings in summer.
• AEMET and emergency services emphasize that the yellow warning implies risk for specific activities (travel, outdoor work, events, flood-prone areas), rather than a generalized risk for the entire population.

3. Orange warning for rain and storms

The orange level is defined as “significant risk”. It is used when phenomena are expected to cause serious incidents in the affected areas. Documented examples point to thresholds clearly higher than those of yellow:

• Notes from the Junta de Andalucía and regional governments mention orange warnings for rain with:
  • Accumulations of 30–40 liters/m² in one hour in inland regions.
  • Accumulations around 100 liters/m² in 12 hours in orange warnings for Huelva, Seville, Córdoba, or Cádiz.
• For storms, orange warnings described by Demócrata and other media, citing AEMET information, usually correspond to:
  • Very intense storms with large hail and very strong wind gusts.
  • Significant probability of local flooding, rapid rises in minor watercourses, or relevant traffic problems.
• Civil Protection usually associates the orange warning with the need for authorities to consider protection measures (activation of flood plans, reinforcement of devices, warnings to the population, etc.).

4. Territorial variability and threshold consultation

The above values are typical references extracted from real warnings, but AEMET makes it clear that the exact thresholds differ for each area and type of phenomenon. Additionally:

• They are reviewed over time to adapt to risk knowledge and climate change.
• The official AEMET warning map allows consulting, for each area and time slot, the forecasted rainfall amount (for example, “up to 30 l/m² in one hour”) and the probability of reaching it.

In summary, AEMET declares yellow and orange warnings for rain and storms by combining quantitative precipitation (and storm) thresholds, adapted to each region, with the probability of exceeding them and the potential risk for people, infrastructure, and activities in the affected area.

In Spain, municipalities have significant scope for action in meteorological alert situations, but the main authority over regulated school activities (schools, high schools, vocational training, etc.) lies with the autonomous communities. Therefore, it is important to differentiate what the municipality can decide directly and what usually corresponds to the regional education and civil protection authority.

1. General framework of competencies

Non-university education is a regional competency: autonomous communities organize the school calendar, schedules, and operation of educational centers in their territory. In parallel, municipalities have their own competencies in:

• Local civil protection and emergencies (municipal plans, preventive devices, coordination with the autonomous community).
• Local security and public order (local police, access and traffic control, use of public roads).
• Municipal facilities and services (own nursery schools, municipal extracurricular activities, sports centers, civic centers, etc.).

This dual dimension (regional education vs. local civil protection) structures the capacity to suspend classes or close centers.

2. What a municipality can decide directly

The municipality can make direct decisions in several areas:

• Closure of municipal facilities: it can suspend activities in facilities owned by the municipality (own nursery schools, cultural centers, sports centers, playrooms, etc.) when the meteorological situation poses a risk to users or staff.
• Safety and mobility measures: it can restrict circulation in certain areas, close streets, cordon off parks or wooded areas, close access to beaches, mountains, or other public spaces due to wind, rain, snow, or maritime storms.
• Complementary activities: it can suspend municipal school routes, extracurricular activities organized by the municipality itself, or the lending of municipal spaces to educational centers.
• Mayor's decrees and recommendations: the mayor can issue decrees or notices recommending not attending educational centers in certain areas or times, or advising the closure of centers for safety reasons.

These decisions are supported by competencies in civil protection, local police, and municipal asset management, and are usually included in the Municipal Emergency Plan or specific plans (for example, snow, floods, windstorms, etc.).

3. Suspension of regulated school activity

The formal suspension of school activity in public and chartered schools (non-university) generally corresponds to the regional Department of Education, often in coordination with the regional civil protection body. The autonomous community can:

• Issue a general resolution suspending classes in one or more municipalities or regions.
• Order the temporary closure of specific centers if a specific risk is detected (flooding, structural failure, isolation due to snow, etc.).

In this area, the municipality:

• Does not, in principle, have the authority to “cancel the school day” generally in centers of the regional network.
• Can submit reports, proposals, or requests to the Department of Education and regional civil protection when it perceives a risk to safety in access or stay at the centers.
• Can take de facto measures (for example, blocking access to an area due to flood risk or falling trees), which practically force the closure of the center, but the academic decision on how that day is counted corresponds to the educational authority.

4. Role of Civil Protection alert

When the regional meteorology and civil protection service activates orange or red alerts for adverse phenomena, territorial and special civil protection plans are usually activated. Within this framework:

• Coordination centers are created where regional and municipal officials participate.
• The autonomous community can order the suspension of classes in an area, based on technical reports.
• The municipality contributes information about access, transport, street conditions, and municipal services.

The existence of a formal alert legally strengthens closure decisions, both those made by the autonomous community and those taken by the municipality regarding its own facilities.

5. Usual coordination practice

In practice, the most common is:

• The municipality activates its municipal emergency plan, convenes the crisis cabinet, and assesses risks in coordination with regional services.
• If it perceives significant danger, it formally proposes to the Department of Education to suspend school activity and, at the same time, can issue recommendations to the population.
• In the face of serious and imminent risk at a specific center, the mayor can order its immediate evacuation or closure for safety reasons, urgently communicating this to the educational authority, which provides coverage and makes the subsequent academic decision.

In summary, municipalities have a key role in emergency management and in closing their own facilities, but the general suspension of school activity in centers of the educational system ordinarily falls to the autonomous community, with coordinated decisions between both administrations.

Based on publicly accessible information, there is no single consolidated figure of how many “torrential rain episodes” the Valencian Community has officially recorded in the last five years published as such by AEMET or another organization. Neither the Territorial Delegation of AEMET in Valencia nor the national climate summaries locate, in public format, an explicit series like “n torrential rain episodes 2019‑2024 in the Valencian Community.”

However, there are very detailed descriptions of some specific episodes and their extraordinary nature, especially in 2024. The clearest example is the DANA of October 29, 2024, classified by AEMET as an “extraordinary episode of very intense precipitation” in the Mediterranean area, with direct impact on the province of Valencia. The October 2024 climate advance from AEMET, disseminated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, highlights that in Turís (Valencia) 771 l/m² accumulated in 24 hours, of which 185 l/m² fell in just one hour, a record for Spain in that time interval (MITECO/AEMET note).

That same episode appears repeatedly in official and political documentation: in interventions by the Government of Spain before the Congress (appearance of 11/27/2024), in the institutional declaration of the president after visiting the Valencian CECOPI (10/31/2024), and in notes from the Generalitat and the Ministry of the Interior about road closures, red warnings, etc. All this confirms the exceptionality of that specific episode but does not provide a numerical series of episodes over several years.

Additionally, the Valencian Generalitat, through the Emergency Coordination Center (CECOPI), issues communications about the activation of yellow, orange, or red alerts for rain, following AEMET warnings. These notes mention “rain episodes,” “torrential rain storms,” or “DANA affecting the Valencian Community,” but again these are qualitative and operational descriptions (what alert level is activated, which municipalities are affected, what restrictions are adopted), not a statistical count of episodes over several years.

A fundamental problem is the operational definition of “torrential rain episode.” AEMET works with precipitation thresholds and warning levels (yellow, orange, red) in the Meteoalert system, and in its climate summaries it usually talks about “significant episodes of intense precipitation” or storms associated with DANAs or named depressions. However, those documents focus on describing each relevant case (such as October 29, 2024) and characterizing the month or season (for example, that October 2024 was the rainiest October in the historical series in Spain), not exhaustively counting how many torrential episodes a specific autonomous community has had in a five-year period.

Something similar happens with regional flood plans and notes from the Presidency of the Generalitat: the Special Plan against Flood Risk of the Valencian Community establishes procedures, warning thresholds, and competency distribution (AEMET, Hydrographic Confederations, 112, etc.), and public communications refer to very severe episodes (such as the one that affected l’Horta Sud and the Hoya de Buñol at the end of October 2024), with rainfall data recorded at local rain gauges. But those materials also do not include a consolidated count of “torrential rain episodes 2019‑2024.”

Therefore, with accessible sources (AEMET/MITECO notes, Government of Spain documentation, Generalitat communications, and civil protection bodies), it can only be stated that the Valencian Community has recorded several extreme rain episodes in recent years — among them, very notably, the one on October 29, 2024 — but it is not possible to provide rigorously an exact number of torrential episodes for the entire five-year period without access to internal technical databases or a specific statistical treatment by AEMET for that region.

If you need an official closed figure, the most solid channel would be to request it directly from the Territorial Delegation of AEMET in the Valencian Community or from AEMET’s central service itself, so they indicate how many episodes they have classified as torrential rain in that period according to their criteria and internal databases, or provide access to complete regional warning series and climatological summaries.