Two tornadoes shut down the airport in Barcelona, Spain

[Julius Civitatus]

Extremely unusual weather conditions forced authorities to close down the El Prat airport in Barcelona, Spain. Heavy rains and two tornadoes hit the area, to the bafflement of locals.

For the record, tornadoes do not happen in Europe. It's an extremely unusual phenomenon for the European Mediterranean climate and geography, whcih doesn't have the conditions that produce them, something much common in the American mid-west.

This year alone, several tornadoes have hit all over Europe, including severe damage in Birmingham, UK.

Is global warming starting to precipitate truly unusual weather patterns? Is the fact that tornadoes are starting to happen in areas where they never happened before as sign of things to come? Have we screwed up the ecosystem of the planet beyond the turning point?

:shrug:

[valerief]

1. If we can send a man to the moon, we can…

May not be Mother Nature at all.

[iamjoy]

2. When It Starts Snowing In New Dehli

We will know we are utterly screwed.

[Mythsaje]

3. The UK site

suggested they aren't that uncommon there.

Spain is weird, but :shrug: we occasionally get short-lived ones (and water spouts) here in Washington State.

[mcscajun]

4. Tornadoes can happen anywhere...and do.

The US just gets many more of them.

Tornadoes can also occur elsewhere, though, including all U.S. states, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

[Obamarama]

5. Do you have a link to the Barcelona incident?

A friend is going to Barcelona on Saturday and I want to freak her out! She is a tornado-phobe!