Travel alert for tourists visiting Canary Islands this Easter
A travel alert has been announced for the Canary Islands where hotels have lost power and roads are blocked by mud
Many Brits will be preparing to jet off on their Easter holiday to the Canary Islands this coming week and those who are should be aware of a Foreign Office travel alert after heavy rainfall has caused flooding. Issued on Sunday, April 13 the UK government are warning of heavy rainfall and flooding in the Spanish Lanzarote.
The warning reads: "Heavy rainfall and flooding in Lanzarote occurred earlier today (13 April 2025) with Costa Teguise, San Bartolomé, and Arrecife particularly affected. Services across the island are affected. Some hotels are currently without power. Some roads are currently affected by mud. If you are in Lanzarote or travelling to Lanzarote, follow the advice of the local authorities and monitor local weather updates."
The Metro has reported on the flooding in Lanzarote and spoke to Mike Hallet, from Yorkshire, about his experience. He said: "The motorways were flooded, water was coming off embankments like full-blown waterfalls. It was proper full-on. I’ve never seen water like it. I’m amazed no one was killed. It felt like Armageddon."
Mike, after visiting a different part of the island, made it back to his hotel, which was flooded. His room was dry so he could sleep there overnight but the hotel had no running water. Footage of the flooding, which was shared on X, shows swathes of brown water gushing down streets and rivers overflowing after a storm and torrential rain hit the holiday hotspot on Saturday afternoon.
Cars can be seen abandoned in deep water and vast swathes of land submerged. There have been no reports of casualties. Officials on the island, which is very popular with British tourists, have declared a state of emergency. The city of Arrecife, on Lanzarote’s south coast, experienced some of the worst flooding.
Some areas reportedly saw around 60 litres of water per square metre fall in just two hours. This is more than a month’s worth of the average rainfall in the UK. Lanzarote’s Security Consortium activated the island’s Emergency Plan until 7am on Sunday morning.
The deluge on Saturday came after heavy rain earlier in the week as Storm Olivier hit the island. Several flights in and out of Lanzarote Airport were cancelled or diverted as a result. Other risks for Lanzarote, which is classified as Spain on the UK government website, are a high threat of terrorism, to be alert to street crime and to be alert to drink spiking.
Recently it has been announced that boarding passes might be "scrapped" for British passengers travelling abroad. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN body responsible for crafting airline policy, plans to dramatically shake up existing rules for airports and airlines through the introduction of a "digital travel credential". A report in The Times detailed what could be the biggest changes to the aviation industry in five decades including that instead of a boarding pass, face scanning technology will be used.
And with no check-in, which is often done online before leaving home these days but can also be done in person at the airport, airlines will be updated on passengers' bookings and movements when they arrive at the airport and their face is scanned. You can read more about the possible changes, here.
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