BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Hours of heavy rains triggered flooding in eastern Spain on Wednesday with some coastal areas overwhelmed by flash floods that washed away cars and trees.
One of the worst-hit areas was Alcanar, a town 200 kilometers (160 miles) south of Barcelona, where huge torrents of fast-moving water surged through the streets, sweeping away everything in its path.
Two major roads in the area were cut off and the local train service partially suspended, with local officials urging residents to stay at home.
Spain’s AEMET weather service has warned of a “serious risk” of flooding in central and northern parts of the country, as well as along its Mediterranean coastline, with the heavy rains expected to persist into Thursday.
Before dawn, heavy rain fell in the Madrid area and the northern Navarra region.
Torrential rains are becoming ever more frequent in Spain, with flooding causing seven deaths in the southeast in September 2019, while another storm left 13 dead in the Balearic island of Mallorca a year earlier.
Experts say global warming has increased the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, making episodes of intense rainful more likely to happen, raising the risk of flooding.
© Agence France-Presse