British tourists hoping to leave the rain behind and head to Spain have been met with torrential downpours, hail, strong winds and flash flooding.
Images from the Costa Blanca showed submerged streets, overflowing rivers and water moving quickly across dry fields before crashing onto roads.
Hail has fallen in some parts of the Valencian Community, which includes the provinces of Alicante and Valencia, with more forecast today, while Benidorm is on a yellow storm alert with a 100 per cent chance of rain.
Further south, in Murcia, the roads have become raging torrents. In its capital, locals and tourists were photographed in ankle-deep water on its main street as they tried to make their way through shops while others took shelter inside.
In other parts of the province, cars and wheeled containers were seen “swimming” through streets that looked more like rivers. Firefighters were said to be “working tirelessly” with roads closed in some places.
Several regions in the southeast of Spain have been affected by torrential rain, hail and strong winds that have caused flash flooding and forced road closures. In the image: A car is seen half submerged in the waters in the city of Murcia
Images from the Costa Blanca showed submerged streets (pictured), overflowing rivers and water moving quickly across dry fields before crashing onto roads.
Water is seen rushing through the streets of Murcia on Monday as the southeastern region of Spain was hit by torrential rain.
Water is seen flowing down a street in Murcia on Monday amid the storms
Local media reported that emergency response officials had recorded more than 320 weather-related incidents as of Monday night.
The worst affected region has been the eastern Levant area of Spain, which includes Valencia, Benidorm, Alicante and Murcia, a popular area for British tourists.
Reports said that the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia had been especially affected. According to the media Eltiempo, more than 60 millimeters of rain had fallen in the surroundings of the city of Murcia, leaving vehicles trapped.
Tree branches were also reported to fall on tram tracks in Murcia.
One image showed a car almost completely submerged in a roundabout.
At 10:00 p.m. last night, the Murcia Plaza outlet said there were still no reports of injuries.
There were reports of people having to be rescued from their vehicles.
The storms come at a time when many Britons are going on holiday to escape what has so far been a disappointing spring.
Temperatures across the UK on Tuesday were forecast to reach a high of around 15 degrees, lower than many expected at this time of year.
Still, the British weather will be preferable to that seen on the Costa Blanca and other regions along Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast this week.
Towns such as Yecla, on the northeastern border of Murcia with Alicante, are among the places where high temperatures and blue skies have given way to surprising scenes of hail and gusts of wind in recent hours.
A Spanish weather website, which reports on much of eastern Spain, including the Costa Blanca, warned this morning: “In the next few hours the storms will dump tens of liters of water and hail on these areas in a very short time.” Be careful.’
It said: “The forecasts turned out to be correct and storms broke out strongly yesterday in parts of the east and center of the peninsula.
‘In the next few hours, intense downpours will gain prominence in several areas.
The yellow storm and rain alert in force for the Costa Blanca for the next few days, as well as for the Balearic Islands of Ibiza and Mallorca today only, will not be lifted until Thursday.
The worst affected region has been Spain’s eastern Levant, which includes Valencia, Benidorm, Alicante and Murcia (pictured), a popular area for British tourists.
Storm clouds are seen over the city of Murcia as the region is hit by rain and flooding
Lifeguards work to pump water from a building in Murcia
Poor sea conditions on the Costa Blanca before this week’s flooding were blamed on a series of drownings in Alicante province last week and over the weekend.
One of the victims was a 52-year-old British tourist who died on Friday after coming to the aid of two children in the water at La Roqueta beach, north of Torrevieja. A 46-year-old Pole who also tried to help them also drowned.
By contrast, British tourists on the Costa del Sol were enjoying splendid sunshine today.
In Marbella, where today is a local holiday that coincides with the resort’s annual fair, tourists sunbathed under blue skies with temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit).
It was a welcome break for those who had just arrived from the UK.
Office worker Sally Jones, 26, said: “I desperately needed the sun. The weather has been very gloomy at home.
“I have friends who are on the Costa Blanca right now and they say that they would have liked to come on vacation with me.”
Spain is not the first Mediterranean country to be hit by extreme flooding this year, after Italy also suffered flash floods in late May.
In a heartbreaking incident, three friends were caught in a flash flood and swept away, after sharing a final hug.
The tragic images published on
Spain is not the first Mediterranean country to be hit by extreme flooding this year, after Italy also suffered flash floods in late May. In the photo: The tragic moment in which three friends were seen hugging seconds before being swept away by the floods.
In the photo, Patrizia Cormos, 20, Cristian Molnar, 25, and his girlfriend Bianca Doros, 23, the three friends who were swept away by floods in Italy at the end of May.
Udinehe provincial fire chief Giorgio Basile told The Telegraph that he threw a rope at them in a desperate attempt to rescue the group.
But, tragically, they were “swallowed by flood waters” as he watched and saw them “disappear” on May 31.
Two bodies, believed to be Ms Cormos and Ms Doros, were discovered 1km from where they were last seen. The search for Mr Molnar continues and firefighters promise: “We won’t stop until we find the third missing person.”
On Saturday it was reported that Molnar’s family lawyer had harshly criticized emergency services, saying that if they had responded when the first emergency call was made, the trio could still be alive.