The number of those killed in catastrophic flash flooding in Spain has risen to at least 211, as police fear more bodies are hidden among the destruction and fresh weather warnings for rain prompt fears of further flooding.
In a televised statement on Saturday, prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the death toll has risen from 207 to 211. He added that 5,000 more army troops and 5,000 more police are being sent to the worst-affected region of Valencia.
“It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime,” Sanchez said. “The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed.”
A fresh weather alert was triggered in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.
Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising in what is already Spain’s worst flood-related disaster in modern history and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 1970s, with most of the deaths so far in Valencia, the eastern region that bore the brunt of the devastation.
Key points
- ‘Biggest military operation in peacetime’, says PM as 10,000 troops sent
- Death toll rises again to 211, says Spanish prime minister
- Climate change ‘turbocharging’ extreme weather in Spain, top meteorologists say
- Tourist hotspot Palma in Majorca on high alert for storm and flooding
- More rain expected in worst-affected regions
In pictures: Clean-up continues amid the devastation
14:04
Alex Croft
NASA satellite imagery shows extent of flooding
13:29
Alex Croft
Satellite imagery from NASA Earth has shown the extent of flooding in the province of Valencia, eastern Spain.
In a post on X, the space agency wrote: “Torrential rains caused deadly flooding and extensive damage in the province of Valencia, located in eastern Spain. These #Landsat images show the extent of flooding as of October 30, 2024.”
Torrential rains caused deadly flooding and extensive damage in the province of Valencia, located in eastern Spain. These #Landsat images show the extent of flooding as of October 30, 2024.
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) November 1, 2024
More: https://t.co/nuE0Vr7cNT pic.twitter.com/EGOaJ8mcTy
‘Biggest military operation in peacetime’, says PM
13:01
Alex Croft
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said he is unleashing the “biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime”.
He announced that the government would send 5,000 more army troops and 5,000 more police officers to assist with the search and clean-up operations in a televised statement on Saturday morning that .
This is in addition to the 2,500 soldiers already deployed in the area.
“The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed,” Mr Sanchez added.
The huge response comes after Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967, when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
Death toll rises to 211
12:48
Alex Croft
The death toll following the devastating floods in Spain has risen to 211.
Dozens are still accounted for, four days after the torrential rains swept across the eastern Valencia region, prime minister Pedro Sanchez said.
Watch: Woman and baby airlifted to safety from Spain’s flash floods by metal cage attached to helicopter
12:28
Lucy Leeson
Watch the moment an elderly woman and baby are airlifted to safety from catastrophic flash floods in Valencia, Spain.
Emergency services have shared footage of the woman and one-year-old baby being rescued after their home was flooded by water on Thursday (31 October).
It captures the moment a military emergency unit rescues the woman using a metal cage attached to a helicopter.
The official number of people killed by the catastrophic floods has risen dramatically to 158.
Spain’s prime minister has urged residents to stay at home as he warned devastation is “not finished” and declared Valencia a “disaster zone”.
King Charles ‘heartbroken’ about the ‘destruction and devastation’ following Spain floods
11:58
Alex Croft
King Charles has offered his “sincere and heartfelt condolences” to the people of Spain following the devastating floods which have so far killed more than 200 people.
Addressed to King Felipe VI of Spain, the King wrote: “My wife and I were utterly heartbroken to learn of the destruction and devastation following the catastrophic flooding in Southern and Eastern Spain.
“So many in the United Kingdom have strong, personal ties to Spain, and our nations are bound by so much that we have in common.
“We extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to you and to the people of Spain for the tragic loss of so many lives. Our special thoughts, prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with all those who have lost loved ones and livelihoods this terrible week.”
A message from The King to King Felipe VI of Spain regarding the ongoing floods in Valencia. pic.twitter.com/LHyNUVInKj
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 2, 2024
Climate change ‘turbocharging’ weather such as that seen in Spain, top meteorologists say
11:30
Alex Croft
Climate change is “turbocharging” the type of extreme weather we saw in Spain, according to the World Meterological Organisation (WMO).
Clare Nullis, the WMO’s media officer, explained clearly the direct link between climate change and extreme rain.
“Flooding we are seeing in Spain is just one of many, many extreme weather and water-related disasters that have been taking place around the world this year,” she said.
"Climate change is turbocharging extreme weather, and we can expect to see more of the devastation and the despair that we have been seeing this week.
“As a result of rising temperatures, the hydrological cycle has accelerated. It’s also become more erratic, more unpredictable. We are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water.
“A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, this is the law of physics. Every degree of warming saturated air contains 7 per cent more water vapour.
“As our climate warms, as the air warms, it becomes more moist, so every additional fraction of warming increases the atmospheric moisture content.”
Spain floods:
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) November 1, 2024
"Climate change is turbocharing extreme weather, and we can expect to see more of the devastation and the despair.
Every additional fraction of warming increases the atmospheric moisture content. This increases the risk of extreme precipitation flooding." - @wmo pic.twitter.com/Vj4MBJC6UY
In pictures: Volunteers and emergency services work to clear the streets
10:59
Alex Croft
Thousands join first coordinated effort to clean streets on Friday
10:27
Alex Croft
Thousands joined the effort to clean up Spain’s streets following the devastating floods on Friday.
An arts and science centre, normally used for opera performances, became the central hub of the clean-up efforts in Valencia.
Volunteers arrived at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences for the first local authority-organised group clean-up.
So strong was the desire from residents to band together and clean Spain’s streets that the mass arrival of volunteers complicated access for professional emergency workers. Authorities had to devise a plan on how best to deploy those that arrived.
It came after Carlos Mazon, Valencian regional president, posted on X on Friday: "Tomorrow, Saturday, at 7 in the morning, together with the Volunteer Platform, we will launch the volunteer centre to better organise, (and) transport the help of those who are helping from the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia."
Spain floods mapped: Where are weather alerts in force as death toll hits 207?
09:48
Alex Croft
Weather warnings are in force across swathes of Spain as further storms approach on the heels of devastating flooding which has claimed at least 158 lives – making it the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory.
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has warned that the devastation caused by flash flooding is “not finished” as he declared Valencia a “disaster zone” on Thursday. Urging residents to remain in their homes, he said: “Right now the most important thing is to safeguard as many lives as possible.”
Cities such as Valencia and Malaga were inundated this week after nearly a year’s worth of rain – close to half a metre – fell in just eight hours in some areas, leaving residents “trapped like rats” in homes and cars, as described by one desperate local mayor recalling the chaos.
The Independent’s Andy Gregory reports:
Why were Spain’s ‘catastrophic’ floods so deadly? Everything we know
09:10
Tara Cobham
At least 202 people are dead after Spain was struck by the worst floods in recent memory that submerged towns, toppled bridges and cut entire communities off from the outside world.
The deadly floods left cars piled up like toys in streets, swallowed homes, and covered entire neighbourhoods in sludge and debris.
Muddy rivers swept away everything in their path – roads, houses and key infrastructure.
Climate Correspondent Stuti Mishra reports:
Some 500 soldiers deployed to search for missing amid fears more bodies hidden among destruction
09:08
Tara Cobham
Some 500 soldiers have been deployed to search for people who are still missing and help survivors of the storm.
Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising in what is already Spain’s worst flood-related disaster in modern history and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 1970s, with most of the deaths so far in Valencia, the eastern region that bore the brunt of the devastation.
Emergency services working to clear cars piled up at the entrance of a flooded underpass in the suburbs feared finding more trapped bodies. “We’re trying to remove vehicles bit by bit to see if there are victims,” one rescue worker told state television. “We don’t know.”
Cars and furniture lay piled up in mud as Spain reels from deadly floods
08:49
Tara Cobham
Death toll rises again – from 205 to 207, says interior minister
08:11
Tara Cobham
The death toll from the devastating flash floods in Spain has risen again – from 205 to 207, the interior minister has confirmed.
According to local media, Fernando Grande-Marlaska told the Spanish radio station Hora 25: “The update is that there are 207 confirmed victims.”
He added: “It is impossible to know the number of missing people and it would not be prudent for me to give a figure.”
‘It’s all destroyed’: Aftermath of deadly flash floods in Spain
07:00
Holly Evans
Early action can mitigate flood destruction, UN climate agency says
06:30
Shweta Sharma
Effective flood warning systems could help to avoid the level of destruction that has occurred in the Valencia region of Spain this week, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Friday.
“We do need to ensure that the early warnings reach those who need them,” WMO official Clare Ms Nullis told a regular UN briefing. “We need to ensure that early warnings lead to informed early action.”
Ms Nullis declined to comment on whether Madrid had acted too slowly in warning residents about the floods, saying only that it was something that “Spanish authorities need to examine”.
Is it safe to travel to Spain and should I cancel my holiday?
06:00
Holly Evans
Eastern Spain has been hit with devastating flash flooding this week, the worst flooding disaster the area has experienced in decades.
Rainstorms started on Tuesday (29 October) and continued into Wednesday. In the aftermath of the floods, cars have been piled on the street surrounded by a sea of debris from damaged buildings and structures.
At least 95 people have lost their lives after the flooding swept through streets, turning walkways into rivers and trapping people in their homes and on car roofs.
Read the full article here:
Residents and rescuers speak of ‘inhuman’ tragedy which could have been avoided
05:30
Shweta Sharma
Residents and rescue workers lamented the scale of devastation in the worst floods in Europe since the 1970s as anger mounted over what some said was a lack of preparation.
Emergency services working to clear cars piled up at the entrance of a flooded underpass in the Valencia suburbs feared finding more trapped bodies.
“We’re trying to remove vehicles bit by bit to see if there are victims,” one rescue worker told state television. “We don’t know.”
Resident Isabel Santiago, 49, watched the scene with tears in her eyes: “There have been so many losses, which could have been avoided. There must be a lot of people in that tunnel because they didn’t have time to get out. This is inhuman.”
Valencia’s regional government said people seeking to help should gather at the capital’s Arts and Sciences museum complex at 7am on Saturday to ease coordination.
In Alfafar, a suburb outside the city of Valencia, Spain‘s third-largest, drone footage showed the tangled wreckage of dozens of vehicles strewn across rail tracks.
Valencia resident Hector Bolivar, 65, questioned why a text message alert was only sent out at 8 pm when the heavy rain had begun several hours earlier.
Regional leader Carlos Mazon said all protocols for disaster management were followed and that authorities had begun warning people from Sunday.
Spain flood victim says her entire home was engulfed in less than 10 minutes
05:00
Holly Evans
Power mostly restored as death toll expected to rise further
04:30
Shweta Sharma
More than 90 per cent of the households in eastern Spain hit by catastrophic floods regained power on Friday, utility company Iberdrola said, even as thousands still lacked electricity in areas completely cut off.
The death toll from the unprecedented floods rose to 205 people, with 200 of them killed in Valencia, the eastern region that bore the brunt of the devastation.
Spanish rescuers opened a temporary morgue in a convention centre and battled to reach areas still cut off on Friday to provide aid and support to the people.
Some 500 soldiers were deployed to search for people who are still missing and help survivors of the storm, which triggered a fresh weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.
Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising.
Climate change is making extreme downpours in Spain heavier and more likely, scientists say
04:00
Holly Evans
Human-caused climate change made Spain’s rainfall about 12% heavier and doubled the likelihood of a storm as intense as this week’s deluge of Valencia, according to a rapid but partial analysis Thursday by World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists who study global warming’s role in extreme weather.
Monstrous flash floods in Spain claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims could be found. Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday.
World Weather Attribution said climate change is the most likely explanation for extreme downpours in southern Spain, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to heavier downpours. The group noted its analysis is not a full, detailed attribution study, as the scientists did not use climate models to simulate the event in a world without human-caused warming.
Read the full article here:
Flood survivors say regional Spanish officials waited too long to warn them of the danger
03:00
Holly Evans
Moments after rushing waters burst through the door to her home, Mari Carmen Pérez received a text message alert from regional Spanish authorities warning her of the possibility of flash floods.
By the time Pérez’s phone buzzed, the water has already gushed into her kitchen, living room and bathroom, forcing her and her family to flee upstairs.
“They didn’t have any idea of what was going on,” Pérez, a 56-year-old cleaner, said Thursday by phone from Barrio de la Torre in Valencia. “Everything is ruined. The people here, we have never seen anything like this.”
Read the full article here:
Watch: Woman and baby airlifted to safety from Spain’s flash floods
02:00
Holly Evans
In pictures: Spain’s flash flooding sees mud and debris fill streets
01:00
Holly Evans
Real Madrid’s trip to Valencia postponed amid deadly flooding in Spain
00:00
Holly Evans
Valencia’s match against Real Madrid this weekend has been postponed due to the deadly floods which killed at least 95 people in the Spanish region.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said LaLiga games, women’s matches and youth fixtures due to be played in the Valencian area have been called off.
Valencia has been declared a “disaster zone” by Spain’s prime minister authorities have warned against non-essential travel in the region.
Read the full article here:
Tourist hotspot Palma in Majorca on high alert for storm and flooding
Friday 1 November 2024 23:06
Holly Evans
The tourist hotspot Palma on the island of Majorca is bracing itself for heavy rainfall and floods as the deadly storm, which has killed more than 200 people, heads towards the Balearic Islands.
Locals and tourists have been urged to remain inside after Spain‘s national weather service warned that the brunt of the storm was headed for Majorca.
Palma’s first deputy mayor, Javier Bonet told people to only leave their homes if it is “absolutely necessary”.
He said: “We are not on red alert, but it is essential to warn the population to avoid greater risks.”
Expat teacher in Spain still trapped after flood waters surround town and food runs out
Friday 1 November 2024 23:00
Holly Evans
An expat teacher living south of Valencia in Spain says he is unable to leave his town due to being “surrounded by water” following flash flooding in the region.
John Fahy, 55, who lives in a seaside town called Cullera, also reported there being no food in the supermarkets, with no new supplies expected for a while.
At least 158 people have been killed in Spain’s worst flooding disaster this century, with rescue workers searching for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings.
Read the full article here:
‘Where is the aid? My town is a cemetery’: Spanish flood victim reveals horror
Friday 1 November 2024 22:00
Holly Evans
More than 200 people have been killed in Spain as the army joined rescue efforts on Friday in the aftermath of the worst flash floods to hit the country in decades, leaving victims in the ravaged region begging for aid.
Dani Sorní, a 22-year-old resident of Paiporta, the epicentre of the disaster, described the grave conditions. “This town is a cemetery, with bodies trapped under a metre-and-a-half of mud and under cars,” he told The Independent.
With the final death toll feared to be 400, survivors described a “tsunami” of water trapping victims in their cars and their fury over poor planning and slow response by authorities.
Read the full article here:
Citizens fill the void left by authorities
Friday 1 November 2024 21:21
Holly Evans
There are so many people coming to help the hardest-hit areas that the authorities have asked them not to drive or walk there, because they are blocking the roads needed by the emergency services.
“It is very important that you return home,” said regional President Carlos Mazïn, who thanked the volunteers for their goodwill. The regional government has asked volunteers to gather at a large cultural center in the city Saturday morning to organize work crews and transport.
Electricity was at last restored for Chiva’s 20,000 residents on Thursday night, and there is still no running water. Local governments have been distributing water, food and basic necessities in towns across Valencia affected by the flash floods, and the Red Cross is using its vast network of aid to help those affected.
In Chiva, the Civil Guard police officers have been searching collapsed houses and the gorge for bodies, and directly traffic. Firefighters are helping ensure buildings were safe. Some 500 soldiers have been deployed in the Valencia region to deliver water and essential goods to those in need, and more are on the way.
‘I never thought this could happen,’ says local
Friday 1 November 2024 20:48
Holly Evans
Mud cakes her boots, splatters her leggings and the gloves holding her broom. Brown specks freckle her cheeks.
The mire covering Alicia Montero is the signature uniform of the impromptu army of volunteers who for a third day Friday shoveled and swept out the muck and debris that filled the small town of Chiva in Valencia after flash floods swept through the region. Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory has left at least 205 people dead with untold numbers still missing, and countless lives in tatters.
As police and emergency workers continue the grim search for bodies, authorities appear overwhelmed by the enormity of the disaster, and survivors are relying on the esprit de corps of volunteers who have rushed in to fill the void.
While hundreds of people in cars and on foot have been streaming in from Valencia city to the suburbs to help, Montero and her friends are locals of Chiva, where at least seven people died when Tuesday’s storm unleashed its fury.
“I never thought this could happen. It moves me to see my town in this shape,” Montero said. “We have always had autumn storms, but nothing like this.”
Why were Spain’s ‘catastrophic’ floods so deadly? Everything we know as images reveal devastation
Friday 1 November 2024 20:25
Holly Evans
At least 205 people are dead after Spain was struck by the worst floods in recent memory that submerged towns, toppled bridges and cut entire communities off from the outside world.
The deadly floods left cars piled up like toys in streets, swallowed homes, and covered entire neighbourhoods in sludge and debris.
Muddy rivers swept away everything in their path – roads, houses and key infrastructure.
Read the full article here:
Driver clings to car roof as water surges through roads
Friday 1 November 2024 20:00
Holly Evans
Valencia residents face ‘disaster’ as more rain expected
Friday 1 November 2024 19:35
Holly Evans
Skies in Valencia were partially sunny on Friday, but the Spanish weather agency has issued alerts for strong rains in the region as well as the coast of Huelva, Andalusia; Tarragona, in Catalonia; and part of the Balearic Islands.
The storm cut power and water services on Tuesday night, but about 85% of 155,000 affected customers had their power back on by Friday, the utility said in a statement.
“This is a disaster. There are a lot of elderly people who don’t have medicine. There are children who don’t have food. We don’t have milk, we don’t have water. We have no access to anything,” a resident of Alfafar, one of the most affected towns in south Valencia, told state television station TVE. “No one even came to warn us on the first day.”
Is it safe to travel to Spain and should I cancel my holiday after flooding disaster?
Friday 1 November 2024 19:10
Holly Evans
Eastern Spain has been hit with devastating flash flooding this week, the worst flooding disaster the area has experienced in decades.
Rainstorms started on Tuesday (29 October) and continued into Wednesday. In the aftermath of the floods, cars have been piled on the street surrounded by a sea of debris from damaged buildings and structures.
At least 158 people have lost their lives after the flooding swept through streets, turning walkways into rivers and trapping people in their homes and on the roofs of cars.
Read the full article here:
Scientists blame climate change which is ‘turbocharging’ extreme weather
Friday 1 November 2024 18:45
Holly Evans
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flooding in recent memory. Scientists have linked it to climate change, which is also behind increasingly high temperatures and droughts in Spain and the heating up of the Mediterranean Sea.
“Climate change is turbocharging extreme weather. We can expect to see more of the devastation and the despair that we have been seeing this week as a warming atmosphere brings more energy into our climate system”, said Clare Nullis, a spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization.
“As a result of rising temperatures, the hydrological cycle has accelerated. It’s also become more erratic, more unpredictable”, she added. “We are facing growing problems of either too much water or too little. And that’s what we’re seeing playing out in Spain at the moment.”
Spain has suffered through an almost two-year drought, making the flooding worse because the dry ground was so hard that it could not absorb the heavy rain.
Storms cause disruption at Barcelona airport
Friday 1 November 2024 17:51
Holly Evans
Spain’s air navigation service provider Enaire has warned that “adverse weather” due to the storms is causing disruption to arrivals at Barcelona airport.
In a post on X, Enaire says the situation is being monitored and advises people to check with their airline for updates.
Earlier today, they posted a similar warning for flights arriving at Palma de Mallorca airport.
⛈️ Meteorología adversa por #tormentas que está ocasionando regulación en llegadas al aeropuerto de #Barcelona.
— ENAIRE (@ENAIRE) November 1, 2024
⚠️Seguimos pendientes de la evolución de @AEMET_Esp.
✈️Consulta con tu aerolínea si vas a volar.#SafetyFirst pic.twitter.com/er6FuVoJmF
‘It’s all destroyed’: Aftermath of deadly flash floods in Spain
Friday 1 November 2024 17:31
Holly Evans
Huge numbers of volunteers take part in rescue operation
Friday 1 November 2024 17:06
Holly Evans
The tragedy has unleashed a wave of solidarity across Spain, with hundreds of residents arriving on foot in the worst affected areas, carrying water, essential products, shovels and brooms to help remove the mud.
The number of people coming to help is so high that the authorities have asked them not to drive or walk there, because they are blocking the roads needed by the emergency services.
“It is very important that you return home,” said regional president Carlos Mazïn, who thanked the volunteers for their goodwill.
Other than volunteer contributions, local governments have begun distributing water, food and basic products in schools, town halls and sports venues.
The Red Cross used its vast network of aid to help those affected by the floods. Since Tuesday, it has carried out more than 3,500 interventions, half of them in 13 of the shelters set up by the authorities, to distribute food, blankets and hygiene products, and to provide internet access.
1,700 soldiers searching for unknown number of missing people
Friday 1 November 2024 16:39
Holly Evans
So far, 205 bodies have been recovered — 202 in Valencia, the worst hit region, two in neighboring Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia in the south.
Members of the security forces and 1,700 soldiers from the emergency unit are searching for an unknown number of missing people with officials concerned that more bodies could be found in wrecked vehicles and flooded garages.
Guardia Civil has rescued more than 4,500 people trapped by the floods, said Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in a news conference from Valencia.
The regional authorities, who are in charge of the response to the tragedy, have asked the central government to mobilize an additional 500 soldiers, who will be deployed on Saturday.
‘UK stands with Spain,’ says Starmer
Friday 1 November 2024 16:26
Holly Evans
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the “UK stands with Spain” after devastating floods killed more than 200 people with dozens more missing.
My thoughts are with those who have lost their lives, their families and all those affected by the devastation caused by the extreme flooding in Spain. The UK stands with Spain during this difficult time.
My thoughts are with those who have lost their lives, their families and all those affected by the devastation caused by the extreme flooding in Spain.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 1, 2024
The UK stands with Spain during this difficult time.
Red alert lifted in Spanish region
Friday 1 November 2024 16:12
Holly Evans
A red alert in the Spanish region of Huelva has been lifted by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), which had been in place since early Friday morning.
Orange warnings have also been lifted in Castellon and Tarragona, while orange warnings remain in place for Huelva and the Balearic Islands.
Situation ‘unbelievable’ with streets filled with debris and vehicles, says local
Friday 1 November 2024 15:59
Holly Evans
The damage from the storm has recalled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn loved ones lost in Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory. Many streets were still blocked by piled-up vehicles and debris, in some cases trapping residents in their homes. Some p
