ONGOING storms bringing thunder and lighting from the Costa del Sol to Galicia have caused flash floods and general chaos, with planes grounded, streets cut off and a cyclist killed by a bolt of lightning.
In the far north-western region of Galicia, over 3,000 lightning bolts have been seen, whilst 20 high-speed AVE trains have been delayed across the country.
Torrential rain in the north and centre of the country has been accompanied by strong winds and even hail, whilst in the south, the storms have been humid and tropical.
Yesterday (Monday), 11 flights due to land at Málaga-Costa del Sol airport had to be diverted, six to Sevilla, four to Granada-Jaén and one to Almería, and another from Madrid to A Coruña (Galicia) was sent to Santiago de Compostela – although, at least, this one landed in the same province, if not the right airport.
Flights from Liverpool, Dublin, Newcastle, Cardiff and Berlin, all due in Málaga before noon, landed in Sevilla, as did another from Paris just before 13.00 and morning arrivals from Amsterdam, London, Tenerife and Stockholm landed at the Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén terminal.
Another flight from Tenerife, due in at the same time as the one which landed in Granada-Jaén, had to divert to Almería.
The main N-331 inter-provincial highway through the province of Málaga was blocked all day yesterday until mid-afternoon in the town of Antequera, and numerous homes and streets were flooded.
Firefighters were called out to deal with 266 emergencies in the Greater Madrid region – of which 137 were in Madrid city itself - mostly flooded ground-floor buildings and basements, or roads which needed to be bailed out.
Here, the worst-hit towns have been Getafe, Parla, Torrejón de la Calzada, Collado Mediano, Las Rozas, Collado Villalba, El Escorial and Alcalá de Henares.
The entrance to the outer suburban, or Cercanías, train line in Collado Mediano was flooded and inaccessible, and those running between Villalba and El Escorial, in both directions, suffered long delays.
Floods in streets and homes, falling chunks of rendering and trees blown down had the fire brigade on their toes in the city of Toledo, where they received 22 call-outs.
Three landslides have been reported in the centre-northern province of León, leaving a road through the village of Peñalba de Santiago, near Ponferrada, completely closed off.
And a cyclist from Valencia was fatally struck by lightning in the province of Teruel, a high-altitude area with very few buildings.
Today (Tuesday) the storms are heading east, from the south of the region of Aragón down to Almería in the south-east corner of the mainland, whilst the central plains of Castilla-La Mancha and the Greater Madrid region continue on 'orange alert'.
In some places, such as the coasts of Valencia and Murcia, the rain has so far been light and is expected to continue this way until around Thursday when the heavens are predicted to open.
But localised heavy downpours are likely from the provinces of Teruel, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante and Murcia down to Almería in inland areas.
The Balearics and Catalunya will largely escape the rain, and a 'blip' mid-week could see sunshine return before cloudy skies and wet weather return from Thursday until at least the weekend.
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