Storm Filomena has halted Atletico Madrid‘s Spanish La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 9, 2020.
The snowstorm has caused serious disruption across Spain and most parts of the country have been placed on red-alert due to how fast it is spreading across the country.
According to reports, the city of Madrid is currently the most affected part of the country and it has been projected that the snowstorm can increase up to 20cm between Saturday and Sunday.
The snowstorm tagged Storm Filomena has forced airports around Madrid and other affected parts of the country to be closed temporarily to prevent casualties.
Reports say the Storm Filomena began to worsen on Friday, January 8, leaving people and vehicles stranded on the roads which also forced the government to ban non-essential travels.
Earlier, Athletic Bilbao players and coaching crew boarded a private jet to Madrid to honor their league match against Atletico Madrid but the jet was not allowed to land due to the impact of Storm Filomena.
The plane carrying the Athletic Bilbao’s team had to be diverted from the Barajas airport, where they suppose to land on Friday night, January 8, back to their take-off point. Hence, La Liga had to announce on Saturday that the match between Bilbao and Atletico Madrid has been called off.
Our fixture 🆚 @Athletic_en has been postponed due to the winter snow in Spain.
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) January 9, 2021
A LaLiga statement read: “Given the exceptional situation caused by the storm across a large part of the Iberian peninsula, causing the closure of Madrid Barajas airport throughout the day, and the impossibility of having the pitch in optimal playing conditions, LaLiga, after contacting both clubs, have asked the Professional Competition Committee first thing this morning to postpone the match between Club Atletico de Madrid – Athletic Club initially scheduled for Saturday (16:15 CET) at the Wanda Metropolitano.”
❄ S̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶c̶k̶e̶d̶!̶
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) January 8, 2021
̶❄ I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶n̶o̶w̶-̶t̶i̶m̶e̶!̶
❄ T̶h̶e̶r̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶C̶i̶u̶d̶a̶d̶ ̶R̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶M̶a̶d̶r̶i̶d̶!̶
🌨 Training in the snow at #RMCity!#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/hvK7qjmxtn
Also, Real Madrid players and coaching crew were said to have spent about 4 hours on the runway before their plane could take off to continue their journey to Pamplona due to the snowstorm.
The reigning La Liga champions landed safely at Pamplona and set to take on Osasuna today, at 21:00 all things being equal.
🙌🛬 We’ve arrived in Pamplona! @PalladiumHG | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/UB52AwDw07
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) January 8, 2021
