Madrid is placed on RED alert for severe rain: Weather warnings are also upgraded along the Costa del Sol and Alicante as ‘historic’ Gota Fria wreaks havoc over Spain

SPAIN upgraded its weather warnings across the country overnight as the dreaded Gota Fria began to unleash torrential rain and strong winds.

The regions of Madrid and Toledo are both on red alert, the highest possible, due to the ‘extreme’ amount of rainfall expected over a 12-hour period on Sunday.

The heavens had already opened overnight but the red alerts will be in place from 12pm on Sunday until 11.59pm.

Meanwhile, the Costa del Sol and Guadalhorce areas have now been issued with their own warnings.

From midnight until 3pm Sunday, both areas in the Malaga province are on yellow alert for rain and thunder storms.

In the east, the whole of Alicante, Murcia, Lorca and parts of Granada are now on orange alert for rain and storms until at least 3pm.

It comes after experts warned that the so-called Gota Fria would be ‘historic’ and ‘extraordinary’.

The Balearic Islands are also expected to be hit hard, with the whole of Ibiza on orange alert on Sunday.