Torrential rain warnings issued for Málaga, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands

Spain’s AEMET national weather service has issued warnings for torrential rain in Málaga, Barcelona, Girona, and Ibiza and Formentera in the Balearic Islands. The warnings come after at least nine people died in flash flooding in Mallorca on Tuesday night.

In Catalonia, Barcelona and Girona are on an orange alert (significant risk) for strong storms and torrential rain, with up to 150 millimeters of rain expected to fall in 12 hours. Last night, Barcelona was inundated with close to 50 millimeters of rain in under an hour. The heavy rainfall flooded streets and ground-floor flats, and caused serious traffic problems.

Last night, Barcelona was inundated with close to 50 millimeters of rain in under an hour

AEMET has also issued an orange alert for Málaga, with up to 40 millimeters of rain expected to fall in the space of an hour. The orange alert will drop to yellow in the afternoon, with 15 millimeters of rainfall forecast in an hour.

The delegate of the Andalusian regional government in Málaga, José L. Ruiz Espejo, has activated an emergency plan in case of flooding. Last night’s heavy rainfall caused serious problems in the region, with emergency services in Andalusia responding to a hundred calls for help on Tuesday and 260 calls in the past 24 hours. Homes, stores and garages were flooded while rocks and other sediment blocked roads and stopped traffic. Most of the 50 recorded incidents took place in Marbella and involved flooding.

In the Balearic Islands, Ibiza and Formentera are on orange alert for torrential rain with heavy showers expected after midday. AEMET has put Mallorca and Menorca on yellow alert, the lowest on the scale, forecasting 20 millimeters of rain. A yellow alert has also been issued for the Catalan city of Tarragona.

According to the latest data from AEMET, 232.8 millimeters of rain fell in Artà-Colònia de Sant Pere and 157.4 millimeters in Artà during last night’s flash flooding in Mallorca. Both towns are close to Sant Llorenç, the area hardest hit by the torrential rain. Sant Llorenç was devastated when a torrent of water rushed through the center, trapping people in their homes and causing at least nine deaths. Six people are still missing.

Three yellow alerts for rain remain active in Cádiz, A Coruña and Pontedera with 15 millimeters of rain expected to fall in an hour.

Light rain and occasional showers are forecast for half of the Spanish peninsula this Wednesday with strong showers expected in the Canary Islands. Cloudy but stable weather is forecast for the rest of Spain.

English version by Melissa Kitson.