Why has it 'rained' plastic in Lanzarote due to storm Filomena?

The Lanzarote landscape looks shocking, plastics everywhere. Bags, bottles, and containers are scattered as far as the eye can see, a saddening sight left by the trail of storm Filomena.

The explanation is actually quite simple, it didn’t ‘rain’ plastics, but the strong winds and rain from the storm have exposed the top of the Zonzamas landfill which is obviously too close to the surface and not buried deep enough.

The landfill is in an exposed area, and whenever there are strong winds the surface gets blown away and exposes something, but never as severe or as saddening a sight as this.

Llueve plástico en Lanzarote#residuos #emergencia #Canarias pic.twitter.com/N6l1nb19El

— Ben Magec-EeA (@BenMagecEeA) January 8, 2021

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The above video was published on Twitter by Ben Magec, a member of a Canarian environmental group, which shows the extent of the damage, which has gone viral across social media.