Cut-off lows: Their characteristics and their effects

Between the 10^th and the 15^th of September 2019, a closed upper-level low (a "cut-off low"), a high-level atmospheric depression cut off from the jet stream circumpolar current which, on becoming positioned over the Mediterranean Sea, warm after absorbing all of the summer heat, brought about a situation of intense rainfall over the entire southeast quadrant of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, which was especially torrential in the provinces of Murcia and Alicante.

The term "DANA" (the Spanish acronym for a cut-off low) is currently used instead of the phrase "cold drop", which has thus far been the term generally applied, sometimes erroneously. the rising temperatures and water evaporation, according to the laws of physics that apply to meteorology, tend towards ensuring that rainfalls should be more intense or, what amounts to the same thing, an increase in the torrential nature of downpours.

Spain is a country particularly prone to suffering floods and its agriculture is an especially vulnerable sector. The climate swings we face, together with the country's orography and the structure of agricultural holdings and production, mean that Spanish agriculture is highly sensitive to this risk.

Flash floods are extremely hazardous to personal safety, specifically to road safety. Centro Zaragoza now presents a series of tips on what you should and should not do if you find yourself caught out by a flash flood when travelling in your vehicle.

Hazard maps are one of the key tools for managing flood risk. The maps include geographic zones that are capable of being flooded under scenarios of a low, medium and high probability of flooding.

The effects of climate change are making themselves felt increasingly keenly in Spain. These are worrying changes that threaten not only ecosystems, but also economic activities, human health and the natural and cultural heritage.

There is currently great uncertainty about trends and future projections of how the climate will affect extreme flooding. The study of these future changes in the hazard level of floods represents a major technical and scientific challenge that European countries must take on throughout the second implementation of the Floods Directive.

The lawsuit giving rise to the judgement we are commenting upon here refers to the applicability of the coverage by CCS of the damage derived from extraordinary risks when payment of the premium of the ordinary insurance takes place after its extension and, by virtue of a practice existing between the insurer and the policyholder, on the same day as the date of the loss, once six months have transpired following the due date of the premium.

The situation that has motivated this study, as well as this edition of the magazine, is the flood event prompted by the cut-off low which mainly affected the south-eastern quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula from 10 to 15 September 2019. This is the flood-related loss event with the highest number of claims in the history of the CCS.