Spain has been rocked by flash flooding, with harrowing videos on social media showing entire streets turned into rivers.
The country was under severe weather alert for Storm Dana which brought torrential rain to the south and east.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show a police car being swept away by the flood waters in Valencia, as Spanish authorities in the worst-hit areas urged citizens to remain in their homes and avoid all non-essential travel.
AEMET, the country’s state weather agency, issued a red alert for the eastern Valencia region with the second-highest level of alert put in place for parts of Andalusia in the south, U.S. News reports.
Footage captured in the Valencian town of Alzira showed showed firefighters rescuing trapped drivers and flooded streets as heavy rain pummelled the area.
Firefighters in Valencia reportedly attended to at least 150 incidents caused by flooding and local media reported that a truck driver had gone missing amid the horror weather.
Nick Finnis, a forecaster for Netweather, shared a clip on X showing flood waters barrelling though Albacete in central Spain, ramming a van against a building as if it were a toy.
He wrote: “Scary fast-flowing flash floods through streets of Albacete, Spain today, these aren’t rare incidents anymore, this is one of several Spanish communities quite far apart seeing streets turn into raging rivers yesterday, today & likely tomorrow too”.
Scientists say extreme weather events of this kind are increasing in frequency due to climate change with the warming of the Mediterranean playing a key role in increasing the severity of torrential rains.
AEMET had anticipated that Valencia would bare the brunt of the storm, with more than 3.5 inches (90mm) forecast in less than an hour, or 180 mm in less than 12 hours, Reuters reports.
You can find the latest AEMET forecasts and weather advice in here.
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