Trees uprooted, two dead and 11 injured in nationwide storms

Unsettled conditions have moved towards the Pyrénées and the border crossings to France from the province of Huesca (Aragón) have been shut off.

A man aged 60 and a woman of 61 were critically injured on Sunday evening in Salou (Tarragona province) when a tree fell on them on the Paseo 30 de Octubre.

In Lorca (Murcia), a chunk of roof was ripped off and blown into a woman walking past, who needed surgery for serious wounds.

In total, over 70 calls were made to Murcia emergency services concerning falling objects, including strips of roofs and walls.

Hail and ice led to a serious accident in the province of Segovia, in Pinarejos, leaving three young adults aged 17 to 21 hurt, whilst a trailer blew over on the A-12 motorway in La Rioja, injuring one person.

Up to eight inches (20 centimetres) of rain and snow across the country, including in Madrid, plus winds upwards of 110 kilometres per hour (about 67mph) – rising to 163km/h in the northern Alicante province, or over 100mph – caused chaos, including the total destruction of a three-metre (9'9”) wall in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) and part of the bell tower in the village of Barruelo (Burgos province).

From Valencia to Elche, the east coast region of the Comunidad Valenciana was said to be 'very high-risk' and, as the rain has now ceased, the danger of forest fire is on red alert throughout.

Most of the snow and exreme cold has been in the north and centre-north of the country, but the south and Mediterranean coasts have borne the brunt of gales.

The photograph shows an uprooted tree in Cabanas, A Coruña province, in Galicia.