MADRID, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A man has died while airports, roads and rail links have been affected by the snap of cold weather that hit Spain on Wednesday, placing some 40 provinces on alert.
The Spanish media said a 65-year-old man died after slipping on a snow-covered pavement and hitting his head on the ground in the town of Galdacano, close to Bilbao in the Basque Region of northern Spain.
Around 20 centimeters of snow left Bilbao's Loiu airport closed until 11:00 a.m., leading to the cancellation of several flights, while other northern airports at San Sebastian, Pamplona and Logrono were also affected.
Meanwhile, high winds affected airports in the Canary Islands, with Lanzarote airport closed at 9:40 a.m. and flights cancelled from the islands of El Hierro and La Palma.
The cold weather also affected rail services with delays of up to 40 minutes on the high-speed train services linking Madrid and Barcelona and Barcelona and Figueres. There were also disruptions on services between Madrid and the north-west of Spain, and regional services have been badly hit in the northern areas of Aragon, La Rioja and the Basque Region.
Dozens of roads have also been closed in the northern half of Spain, with the General Direction of Traffic urging drivers to check forecasts before setting out on journeys.
Temperatures are expected to rise in the coming days, but the bad weather is expected to last past the coming weekend.
