The extensive storm began the day before yesterday in the area around Valencia on the east coast. Cars, houses and animals have been dragged into the bodies of water.
– When the amounts of rain fall, all the water is channeled into the valleys. What is happening now is a historic event, a disaster, says Madeleine Westin, meteorologist TV4.
Climate change behind the storm
Major rescue efforts are still underway. Several bodies have been found, among them two babies. Meteorologists agree that climate change is behind it.
– The temperature in the Mediterranean Sea is higher than it usually is at this time of the year. It gives energy to the low pressures to become more intense, compared to if we had a more normal temperature. Then we also have the lift effect, like in Norway where it rains more on the west side of the mountains. It amplifies the precipitation.
The storm over Spain will probably remain for a few days.
– Now the low pressure is spinning. It is affected by high pressure over the UK, making it difficult to move. But the amount of rain will decrease, explains Madeleine Westin.
However, the rainy weather is not over yet.
– In the coming day there is a risk of heavy showers, and the low pressure remains and spins, says Ingrid Eronn, meteorologist TV4.
Intense thunder and extensive rain
Swedish Hasse Lisskog was on site in Almunecar when the storm started.
– It started with thunder and pitch black clouds, then lightning started. There was a second between each flash. There was an incredible amount of water, but not like in Valencia, says Hasse Lisskog.
– I have not experienced such intense thunder and so much rain in the five, six years I have been here. An elderly man of 90 years told that he had never experienced anything like this in his life, says Hasse Lisskog.
He left Almunecar this morning and is heading west by car – in the same direction as the storm is moving.
– We are on our way to Jerez. There have been enormously strong winds from the east, La vente. It’s actually a normal wind, but now it’s extremely strong. It’s wet everywhere, but the traffic here is perfectly fine. A few small villages above Malaga have received a lot of rain, but where it has fallen the most is in Valencia. They probably expect the death toll to double, says Hasse Lisskog.
Hasse Lisskog was on site in Almunecar when the storm started
Hasse Lisskog was on site in Almunecar when the storm started
Photo: Private
Extremely high temperatures in the water
– Down here in Spain, people talk about the temperature levels that have been in the Mediterranean Sea being extreme, 32-33 degrees in the water in August. It is usually 25-26 max. It’s still around 20 degrees in the water, it’s very warm, and storms are building up over the Mediterranean, says Hasse Lisskog.
However, there is an advantage to the extensive rainy weather. The water depots are being refilled. This after there was hardly any precipitation at all for a year and a half in parts of southern and eastern Spain.
– Everyone thinks the rain is great, because it fills up the water reservoir. Malaga is the region hit by the drought, their dams were only 16 percent full. And they should be at least half full before winter. In Barcelona, the water reservoirs have been completely dried up, says Hasse Lisskog.