JAVEA has been hit by more than 100 litres of rain per square metre in just 12 hours as Storm Adam tightens its grip on the Costa Blanca.
According to the Valencian Association of Meteorologists (Avamet), the town recorded 103.6 litres in the 12 hours to Sunday morning. Neighbouring Gata de Gorgos had 81 litres and Denia 72.4.
Around Valencia, the aptly named Torrent recorded 72.6 litres, Catarroja 69, and El Saler, in Valencia city, 62. Albal, Massanassa and Aldaia, among the towns worst hit by the floods of October 2024, each had more than 56 litres.
Eastern Spain is braced for more life-threatening downpours today, as Storm Adam continues to intensify. Credit: Aemet
Worse is expected. A red alert is in force in the Valencia region from 10am on Sunday, and Aemet is forecasting torrential downpours of 300 to 400 litres per square metre along the coast and just inland in south Valencia and north Alicante. More than 300 litres could also fall in 24 hours in Ibiza and Formentera.
Rough seas are also forecast, with waves of up to four metres.
A funnel cloud formed over Alicante city at around 6.30pm on Saturday. According to the University of Alicante’s climatology lab, it never touched the ground, which would have made it a tornado, so it caused no damage.
Spain’s annual rains have always been heavy, but climate change has increased their ferocity and impact. Credit: Ayintamiento de Javea
The storm that followed dumped between 40 and 42 litres on southern neighbourhoods including La Florida, Babel and San Gabriel.
In Catalonia, firefighters handled 89 callouts between 2pm and midnight on Saturday, almost all of them in the Barcelona metropolitan area. They helped people in cars on the A-2 at Abrera and Martorell, and evacuated an elderly person and a pregnant woman from a flooded house in Sant Esteve Sesrovires.
Firefighters are also searching for a person who fell into a stream in Cabrera de Mar, near Barcelona.
In Almeria, the storm caused dozens of incidents and flooded streets in El Ejido.
On Sunday, Andalucia, the Balearics, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia and Murcia are on orange alert at various times of the day, and Ceuta, Melilla and Galicia are on yellow. Madrid can expect heavy showers and a sharp drop in temperatures.
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