STORM Claudia has battered southern Spain with violent winds and heavy rain, triggering flooding inland and a wave of incidents across Andalucia – just hours after it deluged Lisbon and killed two people in Portugal.
The powerful Atlantic storm swept into the region on Thursday afternoon, bringing hurricane-force gusts to parts of Huelva and Cadiz and knocking down trees, power lines and street furniture across western Andalucia.
Emergency services in the region responded to more than 300 weather-related incidents in 24 hours, most linked to falling branches, damaged roofs and road obstacles caused by the intense winds.
The Interior Ministry in Portugal has confirmed that two elderly people died in their flooded home south of Lisbon after overnight downpours led to hundreds of callouts, widespread power cuts and serious disruption across the capital area.
The same storm front moved east into Spain, where inland areas have been hit by some of the heaviest rainfall of the autumn.
In Castilla y Leon and Extremadura, rivers burst their banks after torrential rain exceeded 200mm in places, leaving roads cut, low-lying homes inundated and emergency crews carrying out multiple rescues.
The Tormes and Hurdano rivers both overflowed after a night of uninterrupted rain, with authorities in Avila and Caceres warning residents to avoid river crossings and exposed rural roads.
Further south, the outer bands of Claudia have brought sustained rain to Malaga province, with 45mm recorded in Ronda and more than 40mm in Cortes de la Frontera and the upper Genal Valley.
No major flooding incidents have been reported so far in the Costa del Sol, but the rain is beginning to feed into reservoirs including La Concepcion, which supplies the western coast.
Aemet has kept a yellow alert active across much of Andalucia for heavy rain and strong winds, warning that gusts could continue through Friday and into Saturday as the system moves slowly east.
Forecasters expect a brief easing in intensity during the daytime on Friday, before further showers return overnight and into Saturday evening.
By Sunday the storm is expected to weaken, leaving clearer skies across most of the region as the last of the front exits the peninsula.
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