AT least one person has been killed in a popular holiday hotspot after torrential rain battered Spain, with experts warning that more is still to come.
Authorities had been searching for a 69-year-old man since Friday, when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater during a violent storm in Catalonia.
The search for the missing driver in ended in tragedy two days later, when a body was discovered.
Although formal identification has yet to take place, all indications suggest the body is that of the missing man.
His vehicle had already been recovered earlier, roughly 1.5km from the point where it was first caught in the current.
According to reports, the man managed to call a relative from inside the vehicle as the floodwaters surged around him.
However, it wasn’t long before he disappeared beneath the murky waves.
Emergency crews were quickly mobilised, deploying specialist units who worked late into the night despite rapidly deteriorating conditions.
They battled a storm system which has unleashed extraordinary levels of rainfall across the region.
In some areas, more than 250 litres per square metre have been recorded.
Rivers including the Ter and Muga rose sharply, prompting authorities to work around the clock to monitor water levels.
Spain’s eastern coast is now bracing for further disruption after a yellow weather alert was issued.
Large parts of the Costa Blanca are expected to see heavy rain alongside lower daytime temperatures.
The same warning has also been issued in Mallorca, where the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has alerted residents to heavy rainfall in the northern part of the island.
Snow is even expected in the mountainous areas of the northern half of the country.
However, by mid-week, the skies are expected to clear with temperatures gradually rising.
Over the past few weeks, the Iberian Peninsula has been repeatedly battered by extreme weather.
In February, Storm Leonardo unleashed more than 15 inches of rain in just 24 hours, causing train cancellations and school closures.
A woman was walking her two dogs by the Turvilla River on the Costa del Sol when one of them was swept away by the torrent.
She reportedly vanished after jumping in to try to save the animal.
The storm forced around 3,500 residents to evacuate their homes in Andalucia, with more than 650 incidents reported.
Among them, one person was injured when a building collapsed, and another was hurt after a giant rock fell on his house in Cadiz.
In Marbella, emergency crews had to rescue a driver who had attempted to cross a closed flood zone.
Across the border in Portugal, Storm Leonardo also claimed a life and forced thousands to leave their homes.
Only days earlier, Storm Kristin had swept through the region, leaving eight people dead.
This sequence of disasters has left communities on red alert as authorities continue to monitor rivers and weather systems closely.
