A man died after his car became trapped in a flooded tunnel in Almeria today. Pictured are rescue workers at the scene
A man’s body has been found 30 miles southwest of Alicante, raising the death toll to five as the storm caused havoc for travellers and forced 3,500 people from their homes, officials said today.
The body of a man was found in Redovan yesterday, a spokeswoman for the emergency services said, without giving details.
Earlier yesterday morning a middle-aged man died in the city of Almeria after his car was trapped in a tunnel that flooded within minutes.
Several hours later an emergency services helicopter spotted the body of a 36-year-old man in the region of Andalusia who had been reported missing and feared dead due to the flooding, a local emergency services spokeswoman said. His empty car had been found earlier in the day.
Thousands of tourists are facing flight delays due to the torrential rain as parts of southeastern Spain have suffered some of the heaviest rainfall on record.
Since Wednesday the downpour has caused chaos on the roads, cutting public transport and prompting rivers to burst their banks, flooding homes.
Yesterday’s tragedy occurred in the city of Almeria, southeastern Spain, this morning when the tunnel was ‘flooded by a huge amount of water in a few minutes’.
A policeman managed to rescue two of the three people in the vehicle, but ‘one occupant remained inside the car’, said mayor Ramon Fernandez-Pacheco.
On Thursday a man, 61, and his 51-year-old sister died when their vehicle was swept away by fast-moving waters which swamped a road in Caudete, southeast of Valencia.
Police managed to rescue two other passengers from the vehicle after the tunnel was flooded ‘by a huge amount of water in a few minutes’. Pictured are members of the Special Groups of Underwater Activities and firemen at the scene yesterday
A man’s death yesterday, pictured the flooded tunnel and rescue workers, brings the death toll during the Spanish storms to five
A fire-truck driving in a flooded area in Redovan today, where the man’s body was found, as schools were shut in a move affecting a quarter of a million children
Boys sit on a bench in a park near the overflowing Segura river as torrential rains hit Orihuela, near Murcia, Spain, yesterday
‘A hard and difficult night. Several locations remain on alert for torrential rains. We sadly regret a third fatality in Almeria,’ Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet.
Thousands of Brits are also facing travel chaos as several Spanish airports closed their doors or delayed flights today because of the extreme weather conditions.
Palma airport in Mallorca reopened at 10.45am after being paralysed by the storms for almost two hours yesterday morning.
All departures and arrivals had to be stopped, but it is now operational again and attempts are being made to get the schedule ‘back to normal’.
Flights heading for the Balearic capital had to be diverted to other airports. Some of the aircraft have had difficulties changing course due to fuel shortages, air traffic controllers confirmed.
Diversions to Barcelona also caused further delays and Ibiza airport was affected by the storms. Murcia’s international airport also had to close and has yet to reopen.
The Spanish airport authority is advising all travellers to check their flight status.
A firefighter standing next to damaged cars after heavy rains in Los Alcazeres, Spain
Dozens of cars were submerged by flood water in Orihuela, in Alicante, Spain. The ‘gota fria’ or Cold Drop phenomenon is affecting the Mediterranean coast with strong winds and rainfalls
A pickup dries in a flooded area in Redovan yesterday as torrential rains hit southeastern Spain overnight, sparking major flooding in the Valencia region
A car is pictured at AP-7 highway after heavy floods in Pilar de la Horadada, Spain
Almeria airport was closed due to flooding and heavy rain which was making it difficult for people to reach it, a spokeswoman for Spanish airports operator AENA said. Just under one million passengers passed through the facility last year.
Mallorca is on major alert for bad weather, with the authorities closing beaches in Palma because of potential danger and also forbidding the use of playgrounds.
Emergency services said about 60 people were also rescued early on Friday from a campsite in the Cabo de Gata nature reserve on the coast of the province of Almeria.
Elsewhere the heavy rain which started on Wednesday caused chaos on the roads, cutting public transport and prompting rivers to burst their banks, flooding homes and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people from surrounding areas.
The torrential rain is thought to have been caused by a meteorological phenomenon called ‘cold drop’.
People pushing a vehicle through a partially submerged car park as torrential rains hit Orihuela
People clean their houses in a flooded area in Redovan as torrential rains hit southeastern Spain overnight, sparking major flooding in the Valencia region
Rescue teams are also working at a flooded tunnel where several vehicles were trapped due to torrential rains in Pilar de la Horadada, Alicante, eastern Spain
Rescuers on jet skis went into a flooded tunnel in Alicante to help people out after it flooded
This often occurs in the Spanish autumn and often brings heavy rain and floods.
In October 2018 torrential rain and flash floods killed 13 people in Mallorca.
Footage shown on Spanish television showed cars being swept away by fast-flowing water and one person being evacuated from the roof of a building by a helicopter.
In the town of Orihuela, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Valencia, the river Segura overflowed its banks at some points.
The weather service for Valencia said that 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) of rain fell in six hours in Orihuela on Friday morning.
‘The storms have picked up and we are still in a very difficult situation due to the overflowing of the river,’ Valencia’s regional president Ximo Puig told TVE.
Dozens of people gathered to watch a van sink on a flooded street in Pilar de la Horadada, Alicante, yesterday
People have had to clear water out of their homes in Blanca, Murcia, Spain, after rivers burst their banks and streets flooded this week
Drone footage showing a flooded area after heavy rainfall in Lorqui, Spain, yesterday
‘This will have important economic consequences, but right now the important thing is the wellbeing of our people.’
Mud-colored water rushed through streets, carrying away parked cars and inundating the bottom floors of houses in many towns.
RTV showed images of rescuers in a small rubber boat being towed upstream by a jet ski into a flooded tunnel where reportedly people were trapped on top of their cars.
The Spanish weather service AEMET maintained its alert for the region, saying it is ‘at extreme risk’ from torrential downpours.
Spanish weather service AEMET said the region is ‘at extreme risk’ from torrential downpours. Pictured is a police man working to clear a flooded street in Blanca, Murcia, on Thursday
Emergency services for the region of Murcia have rescued 144 people from cars and flooded homes. Pictured are cranes removing canes under a bridge in the Segura river on Thursday
Emergency services for the region of Murcia, which is south of Valencia, said that they have rescued 144 people from cars and flooded homes.
At least one person had to be rescued by a police helicopter from the roof of a building surrounded by water.
‘Nobody should leave their homes. Use your common sense,’ said Fernando Lopez Miras, the regional president for Murcia.
The authorities have urged people in the area not to drive and stay home if possible.
Schools across southeastern Spain suspended classes on Friday, as the heavy rains are set to continue.
In the region of Valencia alone, where schools were already closed on Thursday, around 536,000 students were affected, according to the regional government.