THE Valencia region has been placed on yellow alert for storms just days after enduring a punishing red alert heatwave.
Spain’s weather agency AEMET has warned that thunderstorms could hit Valencia, southern Castellon and northern Alicante between 2pm and 10pm on Friday, August 22.
The storms are expected to bring heavy downpours and lightning, with the alert level set at yellow, the second lowest on the four-tier warning scale.
It comes as residents are still recovering from the sweltering conditions of the past week, when much of eastern Spain suffered record-breaking heat and a red alert was in force.
The north of Spain has been ahead of the curve, with downpours already bringing dramatic scenes in Cantabria.
Santander recorded 63.6mm of rain in just one hour today, the second-highest figure ever registered in the region after the 96.2mm deluge of August 1983.
Several of the areas hit hardest by the showers lie close to wildfire zones, where the sudden rainfall helped to dampen hotspots but also caused fears of flash flooding.
The Spanish weather agency AEMET noted that today’s storms rank among the most intense on record, with previous one-hour highs including 58.6mm in Reinosa in 2001 and 56.2mm in San Vicente in 2018.
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