AN orange weather warning has been issued for the Balearic Islands as DANA Alice continues to bring thunderstorms and torrential rain to Spain’s eastern coast.
The alert covers the southern coast of Mallorca, including the capital Palma, and will last until 8pm local time with up to 30mm of rain forecast to fall.
Elsewhere, a yellow alert for rain and thunderstorms is in place for Ibiza, Menorca and much of north-eastern Spain, including Castellon, Tarragona, Barcelona and inland Catalunya.
Authorities have urged residents and visitors to take extreme caution, avoid unnecessary travel and stay informed about weather updates through official channels.
On Monday, Valencia was hit by a rare red weather warning for torrential rainfall with streets turning into fast-flowing rivers – one year on from the devastating floods which led to more than 230 deaths and one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history.
The slow-moving storm is set to linger over Spain’s Mediterranean coast until the weekend – with state weather agency Aemet blaming an ‘anticyclone’ over the British Isles.
According to Aemet, the stationary anticyclone is pushing cold air south which, when colliding with a humid eastern wind, is creating violent storms.
Showers on the eastern coast are forecast to persist until Saturday – although temperatures are expected to be ‘pleasant’ and ‘September-like’.
Over the weekend, areas from Barcelona to Alicante, as well as the Balearic Islands, received between 100-200mm of rainfall, with videos posted on social media showing cars being washed away by gushing torrents of rain.
In some places, up to 60mm of rain has fallen in an hour, bringing flash flooding and leading to travel chaos, including blocked roads and flight cancellations.
DANA Alice is the first DANA (‘isolated depression at high levels) to be given an official name, assigned from a list agreed by the Southwest European Naming Group, which includes Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Andorra and Luxembourg.
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