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At least 51 people have died in flash floods affecting southeastern Spain, a spokesperson for the regional government of Valencia told on Wednesday.
Several dead bodies have been recovered by emergency workers after torrential rain caused flash floods in southern and eastern Spain, shutting roads and high-speed train connections.
Raging mud-coloured flood waters swept through the town of Letur in the eastern province of Albacete on Tuesday, pushing cars through the streets, images broadcast on Spanish television showed.
The leader of the eastern Valencia region told reporters early on Wednesday that several dead bodies had been found in flood-affected areas.
Emergency services workers backed by drones were looking for six people who were missing in the wake of flash floods in the town, the central government’s representative in Castilla-La Mancha told Spanish public television TVE.
“The priority is to find these people,” she added.
Police in the town of L’Alcúdia in Valencia said they were looking for a truck driver who had been missing since early afternoon.
Twelve flights that were due to land at Valencia airport have been diverted to other cities in Spain due to the heavy rain and strong winds, Spanish airport operator Aena said.
Another 10 flights that were due to depart or arrive at the airport were cancelled.
National rail infrastructure operator ADIF said it had suspended high-speed trains between Madrid and the eastern port of Valencia due to the effects of the storm on main points of the rail network in the Valencia region.
A high-speed train with 276 passengers derailed in the southern region of Andalusia, although no one was injured, the regional government said in a statement.
Emergency services rescued scores of people in Álora in Andalusia, some by helicopter, after a river overflowed.
State weather agency AEMET declared a red alert in the Valencia region and the second-highest level of alert in parts of Andalusia. Several roads were shut in both regions due to flooding.
The intense rain has been attributed to a phenomenon known as the gota fría, or “cold drop”, which occurs when cold air moves over the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This creates atmospheric instability, causing warm, saturated air to rise rapidly, leading to the formation of towering cumulonimbus clouds in a matter of hours and dumping heavy rain across eastern parts of Spain.
Scientists warn that extreme weather such as heatwaves and storms is becoming more intense as a result of the climate crisis.
