STORM Emilia has brought torrential rain to Spain’s coast triggering “extreme danger” warnings just days before Christmas.
Sub zero temperatures, heavy swells and even snow has pummelled popular tourist regions like the Canary Islands throughout the weekend.
Spain’s weather forecaster Aemet has issued more than a dozen high level alerts and confirmed unstable weather will likely persist.
Orange alerts are now in place across south-eastern regions Murcia and Andalusia for severe storms.
These areas are expected to accumulate 100 litres of rain per square meter in just twelve hours.
And Aemet has alerted locals and holidaymakers of the severe conditions in the southern pre-coastal area of Tarragona on social media.
They said: “Extreme danger! Flooding and overflowing rivers are possible. Follow the recommendations of Civil Protection.”
High alerts have been issued across Murcia due to heavy rain and flood risks.
Schools have been 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 this morning.
Aemet has also reported heavy rain is expected in parts of Catalonia, Aragon, and Galicia, where a yellow alert has been issued.
Rainfall accumulations of over 40 litres per square meter are forecast for Galicia in twelve hours.
Meanwhile, more than 20 litres per square meter are expected in one hour across large areas of the provinces of Barcelona and Girona.
In the Strait of Cádiz, western and southwestern A Coruña, the Huesca Pyrenees, and some areas of Teruel, rainfall could exceed 15 litres per square meter in one hour.
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 remains with rainfall expected to reach 60 litres per square meter in twelve hours.
Last Sunday, the Valencia City Council suspended in-person classes at 32 schools due to a yellow weather warning for heavy rainfall.
Similarly, the University of Valencia also cancelled lectures at all its campuses until 3pm today.
Although the entire region is under a yellow weather warning, southern Castellón is under an orange alert due to the potential for significant rainfall build-up.
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.