Half-term holidaymakers have been warned by the Met Office to expect heavy rain in Spain’s east coast tourist destinations this week.
The national meteorological service said that a risk of “significant flash flooding”, “frequent lightning” and “large hail” will continue through to the end of the week following heavy showers and thunderstorms.
In a post on X/Twitter on Monday (28 October), the Met Office said: “Torrential rain and thunderstorms could bring flash flooding, landslides and significant disruption to parts of eastern Spain this week.
“A further 250-350mm of rain is possible by the weekend in a few places – the average for the whole of October is closer to 50-100mm!”
Popular holiday hotspots on the east coast, including Valencia, Malaga, Madrid and Alicante, are among the worst affected areas by the wet weather.
The regional leader of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, said that “lifeless bodies” had been found in the area swept with flash floods.
According to Spanish security and emergency bodies, the provisional death toll is 51 people and “the process of collecting and identifying victims is beginning”.
Locals have been advised not to travel by road, both in the province of Valencia and in Castellon.
In Alora, Malaga, cars were filmed being swept away due to a surge in the Guadalhorce River, and a high-speed train with nearly 300 passengers derailed in the heavy rain on Tuesday. No passenger injuries were reported from the incident.
Aemet, Spain’s national weather agency, issued a heavy rain weather alert for the Spanish peninsula and the Balearic Islands yesterday that forecast “intense storms” and “persistent rainfall” until 31 October due to a DANA (isolated depression at high altitudes) around the Gulf of Cadiz.
It said: “Instability will continue in the Mediterranean area, with probable showers and storms that would affect the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and Catalonia during the weekend and that could be locally strong and persistent.”
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “The worst conditions in this event occurred on Monday and Tuesday. However, river levels will remain high through the rest of Wednesday and into Thursday. We will continue to see heavy showers and thunderstorms across parts of Spain through to Saturday, but with increasing area of dry conditions developing with time.”
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast