Spain’s catastrophic floods have left more than 90 people dead and victims ‘trapped like rats’ while entire towns remain ‘cut off.’
Entire towns have been plunged under water, cars swept away and people left stranded in their homes in near apocalyptic scenes.
The government has declared three days of mourning for the dozens killed in the deadly floods, while one local journalist described it as the ‘worst natural disaster in 50 years’.
Follow below for MailOnline’s live coverage of the floods in Valencia.
Valencia’s clash with Real Madrid this Saturday is set to be suspended following the devastating floods.
LaLiga – the top flight of Spanish football- tonight requested all football matches scheduled in Valencia this weekend are called off.
It comes after Valencia’s match this evening was also postponed.
By Elena Salvoni and Olivia Christie
A British mother-of-two living in Valencia said local authorities acted too late as deadly floods swept through the region killing more than 95.
Entire towns have been plunged under water, cars swept away and people stranded in their homes in near apocalyptic scenes.
A 71-year-old British man who was suffering from hypothermia was this afternoon identified as one of the dead.
The government has declared three days of mourning with the floods described as Spain’s worst natural disaster in more than 50 years.
But a British expat living in Valencia has told MailOnline the impact of the deadly disaster could have been lessened if authorities acted earlier.
Read more below:
Scientists say extreme weather in Spain likely linked to climate change
Scientists have said the increasing number of extreme weather events in Spain are likely due to climate change.
Spain is still recovering from a severe drought and has registered record high temperatures in recent years.
Yesterday’s storms also unleashed a rare tornado and a freak hailstorm that punched holes in car windows and greenhouses.
Spain ‘braced for a heavier toll’ with the number of dead almost at 100
Spain braced for a heavier human toll on Wednesday after 95 people died in flash floods that launched muddy waters through towns, tossed cars and wreaked transport havoc.
Rescuers were expected to find more bodies in the European country’s deadliest flood in more than 50 years and three days of official mourning were due to start on Thursday.
Heavy downpours and fierce winds have lashed Spain since the beginning of the week after a storm formed over the Mediterranean Sea, with up to a year’s worth of rain falling in just hours in some areas.
The body coordinating emergency services in the eastern Valencia region announced a provisional death toll of 92, adding that bodies were still being recovered and identified.
Two people died in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and another victim was reported in Andalusia in the south, both regions’ leaders told journalists.
The toll is likely to rise because ‘here are many missing people’, government minister Angel Victor Torres told public broadcaster TVE.
The head of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazon, told reporters there were no longer people to save from roofs or terraces through aerial means.
Emergency services carried out 200 rescues on the ground and 70 aerial evacuations throughout the day, he said.
Stunned residents attempted to clean the sludge and grabbed buckets to bail out water from their homes ahead of a long night without water or electricity.
Residents prepare to spend the night in an emergency shelter
Residents in Valencia whose homes have been damaged or destroyed in the flash floods are preparing to spend a night in emergency shelters.
Dozens still missing – Spanish media reports
The Spanish newspaper El Pais has reported that dozens are still missing following the catastrophic floods.
At the moment the confirmed death toll remains at 95. In Valencia 92 people have died, two in Castilla La Mancha and one in Malaga
Catalonia won’t activate flood plans as heavy rains move towards the region
The interior minister of Catalonia has ruled out activating it’s emergency flood plan despite heavy rain which caused flooding in Valencia moving towards it.
Earlier the northern Spanish region, which is directly above Valencia, was placed on maxmum alert as the heavy rains causing flooding in the Valencia region moved northwards.
At a press conference, Catalan Interior Minister Nuria Parlon said: ‘The forecasts we have now do not make us think that we have to protect ourselves against a flood like the one that has unfortunately happened in Valencia.’
Flood victims have ‘nothing left to save’
Flood victims returning to their homes following last night’s floods have claimed they have ‘nothing left to save.’
In the Valencian
town of Utiel, the storm dumped 230 mm of rain on Tuesday – three times the previous daily record, according to national weather agency AEMET.
That represented a quantity of water almost six times greater than what the area receives on average for the whole month of October.
‘There’s nothing left to save, I lost everything in one night,’ Utiel resident Emilio Munoz said in front of his small red-brick house.
The pensioner in his 70s had just finished cooking when the water seeped into his home ‘and overturned everything’, with branches and leaves hanging from his dining room chandelier.
A despondent Jose Manuel Rellan watched helplessly as relentless rains drenched his town in eastern Spain on Wednesday during the country’s deadliest floods in more than half a century.
‘It has been raining non-stop for 10 hours… And the result is what you see,’ the 49-year-old warehouser worker said in Ribarroja del Turia, pointing to flooded streets caked in mud.
‘We are cut off, you can’t reach parts of the town. The roads are all cut, bridges are cut.’
Spanish PM thanks international leaders for their ‘solidarity and empathy’
The Spanish Prime Minister has thanked international leaders for their ‘solidarity and empathy’ with Spain following the flash floods.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Pedro Sanchez said he had spoken with world leaders including the Secretary-Genral of the UN Antonio Guterres and the EU President Ursula von der Leyen.
He wrote: ‘Throughout the afternoon I was able to speak with Antonio Guterres, Ursula von der Leyenand and other international leaders who were interested in the crisis caused by the DANA. I would like to thank all of them for their solidarity and empathy with the Spanish people. Our country is more supported today than ever before.’
European leaders offer support to Spain
Leaders from the across the continent have offered ‘solidarity’ and support to Spain following last night’s devastating floods.
French president Emmanuel Macron has offered assistance from Spain’s northern neighbour to assit releife operations.
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni said her thouts were ‘with the families and victims.’
Menahwhile, earlier today, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said: ‘Europe is standing together. Germany is ready to help in any way necessary.’
The prime minister of Spain’s nearest neighbour, Portugal, has said his country is ready to aid Spain.
Keir Starmer is yet to issue a statement on the flash flooding.
Red weather warnings issued for large parts of Spain
The Spanish Securities and Emergencies department has issued red weather warnings across large parts of Spain.
Both yellow and red weather warninfs are in place across parts of Castellon, Alicante and Valencia.
A red warning precedes extreme or unusual weather events and is the most extreme alert. Yellow warnings indicate lower-risk weather.
What caused the flash floods in Spain?
Last night’s flash floods in Spain were caused by over a year’s worth of rain falling in just eight hours – according to meteorologists.
Much of spain was battered by heavy rainfall and hailstorms last night with the worst affect region of Valencia being hit by 491mm of rainfall in eight hours.
The eastern Spanish region typically only sees 460mm of rain in an entire year.
There was 160mm in just one hour.
Spanish meteorologist are claiming this could be due to what is known as a DANA phenomenon. This is a Spanish acronym for high-altitude isolated depression, and unlike common storms or squalls it can form independently of polar or subtropical jet streams.
When cold air blows over warm Mediterranean waters it causes hotter air to rise quickly and form dense, water-laden clouds that can remain over the same area for many hours, raising their destructive potential. The event sometimes provokes large hail storms and tornadoes as seen this week, meteorologists say.
Watch: The horror of the devastating storms that lashed large parts of Spain
Death toll rises to more than 90
Spain has confirmed that the number of people killed in the flash floods has now risen to at least 95.
So far 92 people have died in Valenica, two in Castilla La Mancha and one in Malaga.
Pictured: Spaniards face the aftermath of the deadly flash floods
Spaniards have started clearing debris from their streets after last nights flash floods which destroyed homes and left cars piled high in the street.
Corpses wash up in horrified survivors’ homes after Spain’s catastrophic floods leave Valencia devastated and kill around 70 in apocalyptic scenes
British foreign office issues a warning to travellers as British man, 71, is confirmed dead
The British foreign office has updated its travel asvice for those travelling to Spain with a wanring following the flash floods.
It said: ‘Severe weather and flooding is affecting many areas of southern and western Spain, particularly the Valencia region and Castilla La Mancha. Journeys may be affected.’
Brits in Valencia are being urged to check the latest weather warnings in Spain before taking any journeys.
Meanwhile, a 71-year-old British man who was rescued from his home in Malaga amid the flash floods has died in hospital.
The President of Andalusia, in southern Spain, said he was rescued from his home following the flash floods.
He sufferd from hypothermia and died from several cardiac arrests.
What we know so far about the Spanish floods
At least 72 people have died following devastating floods in the Valencia region of eastern Spain – with the death toll expected to rise further.
People are still missing this evening and rescue efforts are ongoing.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez has declared three days of mourning following what some are already calling ‘the worst natural disaster to hit Spain in 50 years.’
