THIS is the dramatic moment a tornado tore down Christmas lights in Spain, as Storm Emilia continues to torment the country.
Footage shows the festive structures buckle under the force of the gale, before crashing to the ground.
The tornado caused chaos in the early hours this morning in the centre of La Cala de Mijas, on The Costa del Sol.
Fierce winds, reaching over 80 MPH, lifted small boats from the sand and uprooted beach hunts and trees.
The coastline was also hammered with lightning and heavy rain throughout the night.
Firefighters were called out to seven serious incidents involving, mostly, fallen trees and branches.
At least eight cars were seriously damaged by falling branches, local media reports.
Emergency services are working to clear blocked roads and restore safety.
A yellow weather alert was issued on Monday night, warning of strong gusts of wind and heavy rainfall across Malaga’s coast and Guadalhorce Valley.
This comes after Storm Emilia hit popular tourist regions with sub zero temperatures, heavy swells and even snow throughout the weekend.
Spain’s weather forecaster Aemet issued more than a dozen high level alerts on Sunday night and confirmed unstable weather would likely persist.
On Monday, Orange alerts were in place across south-eastern regions Murcia and Andalusia for severe storms.
These areas were expected to accumulate 100 litres of rain per square meter in just twelve hours.
They said: “Extreme danger! Flooding and overflowing rivers are possible. Follow the recommendations of Civil Protection.”
High alerts were also issued across Murcia due to heavy rain and flood risks.
Schools were closed in the municipality of Los Alcázares, due to the risk of flooding in the local dry riverbed, which reached its capacity (3.10 meters) at 5am.
Emergency services in the region activated the Inumur Plan (Level 1) for flood preparedness early yesterday morning.
A red alert for heavy rainfall along the Valencian coast ended at 6am on Monday.
This comes just over a year after devastating DANA floods in the region claimed more than 200 lives.
The rare warning signals “an extreme risk to life” and serious disruption.
But, a yellow alert remained yesterday with rainfall expected to reach 60 litres per square meter in twelve hours.
The weather has already stopped major events such as Sunday’s La Liga clash between Levante and Alicante suspended by the Spanish football federation due to the red alert.
In eastern Andalucia, emergency Es-Alert messages were sent to thousands of mobile phones as authorities braced for heavy rain linked to the storm.