Army mobilized to rescue 600 motorists stranded in Storm Juan

Army units were mobilised to help about 600 drivers who were stuck on a motorway in heavy snow as Storm Juan blanketed many parts of Spain, authorities said on Friday.

A vehicle of the Fourth Emergency Intervention Battalion (BIEM IV) drives on its way to collaborate with the emergency services deployed in Soria to rescue drivers trapped by heavy snowfall, near Zaragoza, Spain, January 19. 2024, in this video screengrab obtained from social media. Ministry Of Defence @Defensagob via X/via REUTERS

MADRID (Reuters) - Army units were mobilised to help about 600 drivers who were stuck on a motorway in heavy snow as Storm Juan blanketed many parts of Spain, authorities said on Friday.

Snowfalls left motorists stranded for hours on the N-122 road between Soria and Agreda in northern Spain so authorites said they had dispatched troops from a base in Zaragoza to help move the drivers.

Miguel Ángel Clavero, of the civil protection force, said on Friday that in Aragon in eastern Spain a number of roads were left unpassable by the snowfall and Zaragoza airport was closed.

Temperatures plunged to minus 13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit) in Soria, AEMET, the state weather forecaster, said on Friday.

Heavy rains fell in the western region of Extremadura and in Catalonia in northeastern Spain, Aemet added.

The storm was expected to pass by Saturday, forecasters said.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by Sandra Maler)