Thunderstorms in Spain: Roads turn into rivers

On the Costa Blanca in southern Spain, there has been severe flooding after thunderstorms. Within just a few hours, large masses of water inundated the streets.

A line of thunderstorms hit the town of Torrevieja, just under 40km east of Murcia, bringing torrential rain on Monday evening, October 11th. Throughout the city, cars and buildings were completely submerged.

Video footage above shows chairs and tables of a street café being swept away by the masses of water, with people still try to bring their belongings to safety.

The nearby Abanilla weather station measured 40mm of rain in just one hour. By comparison, this is the average amount of rain that falls across parts of London for the entire month of February, or March.

The risk of severe weather remains high in some regions. Until Wednesday 12th, there is a threat of further thunderstorms and heavy rainfall from Alicante to Tarragona. In some areas, more than 100mm of rain could fall.

On the Balearic Islands, around Mallorca and Ibiza, storms with heavy rain and flooding are possible here too. Holidaymakers should be careful, as roads can quickly turn into raging rivers.

Only last week, extreme rainfall occurred in Mallorca and Menorca. At Menorca's airport in Maó, the highest daily rainfall was measured since records began in 1965. More than 150mm fell in just twelve hours.