AN elderly woman has died and 90 people were rescued by emergency services after severe thunderstorms unleashed devastating flash floods across eastern and central regions of Spain on Friday.
The victim, aged 102, was found dead in her home in Madrigueras, Albacete, after the property was swallowed up by more than a metre of floodwater.
The small town, located 120 miles northwest of Alicante, was drenched by torrential downpours that dumped more than 140mm of rain in less than two-and-a-half hours.
Around 90 people were rescued by emergency crews during the afternoon and evening after becoming trapped inside their homes by the rising water, with the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha declaring a Situational Level 1 emergency.
The Guardia Civil’s Citizen Security Unit was deployed overnight and a cleaning team is expected to arrive early on Saturday to begin recovery work.
Remarkable footage shared on social media shows cars piled on top of one another in the streets as a deluge of murky floodwater cascades down a street.
The freak weather came just a day after heavy rainfall triggered separate flash floods along Spain’s eastern coast, as large parts of Catalunya and the Costa Blanca were placed under a rare red ‘danger to life’ weather alert.
Firefighters near Barcelona rescued 18 people who became trapped in their cars as the worst-hit areas saw roads submerged, homes flooded and railway services disrupted.
Residents in Tarragona, the Costa Blanca and Murcia all received an emergency ES-Alert warning of torrential rainfall and possible floods.
More than 2,500 people were left without electricity in parts of Tarragona, while the storms also caused widespread disruption in the Valencia region, with more than 400,000 pupils forced to stay at home after municipalities closed hundreds of schools.
Large swathes of Spain remain under a weather alert this Saturday, with state meteorological agency Aemet warning that volatile conditions are expected to persist well into next week.
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A red weather warning has been issued for the coastal area of Barcelona province, with a staggering 90mm of rain forecast to fall in just an hour.
The alert kicks in at 9pm on Saturday evening and will remain in place until at least midday on Sunday.
READ MORE: Man dies in Catalunya as flash floods wreak havoc across eastern Spain
Lower-level orange alerts have been activated for the remainder of the Catalan coast, Tarragona, Cantabria and Madrid, with a yellow warning covering large parts of central and northern Spain.
In total, 15 regions are under weather alerts on Saturday.
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