Laurence Dollimore
THIS is the moment a tornado landed on the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella on Wednesday.
In footage shared online, the swirling column of air can be seen approaching a popular tourist beach from the Mediterranean sea.
In one clip, it is seen going right up to the shore of Playa de Cable before making contact with the sand.
Surprised Brits can be heard in the background of the clip commenting on the tornado’s development.
The clip was uploaded to popular community Instagram page Marbellasequeja.
It comes as flooding has already begun across Malaga as the red-level weather event gets well and truly underway.
The whole Costa del Sol and Axarquia regions have been warned they are under an ‘extreme risk’ due to severe rainfall between 10am and 11.59pm today.
In Velez-Malaga, muddy floodwater was filmed gushing over railings and filling up streets.
In Torre del Mar, video footage shared onlines showed how drains were already overflowing and filling roads with water by 11am.
There was rather a late start to the predicted downpours along parts of the Costa del Sol this morning – with many wondering if the meteorologists had overegged it.
A red alert had been activated for heavy rainfall from 10am on Wednesday, with it scheduled to last for the entire day.
However in some areas, including San Pedro in Marbella, by the time 10am had come and gone, not a drop had fallen.
But that soon changed by around 10.30am, when the deluge began to plummet from the sky.
Videos shared online show buckets of rain filling up apartment terraces while lightning strikes above.
Schools across Malaga province have been suspended today as a precaution.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people have been evacuated from several towns along the Guadalhorce riverbed.
These include Alora, Pizarra and Alhauarin de le Torre.
Residents are advised to avoid all unnecessary travel and to keep updated with the latest news.
