Red alert issued in Spain as heavy rain sweeps the country - and residents warned to stay indoors

4 September 2023, 08:40

Red weather alerts have been issued for parts of Spain after heavy rain fell - leading to mudslides and forcing rail lines to be closed.

Several weather warnings have been issued in the Spanish regions around Madrid, Toledo and Cadiz because of the flooding caused by torrential rain.

The country’s national weather agency AEMET issued a red alert in the Madrid region.

Rail services between Madrid and Spain’s eastern coastal area of Valencia have been suspended as well as some other lines.

Storm Dana has caused mudslides with more rain forecast for today.

Officials in Madrid have told people to stay off the streets.

The city’s Mayor  Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said he was expecting "an exceptional and truly rare situation in terms of precipitation".

“Due to the exceptional and abnormal situation, in which rainfall records will be broken, I ask the people of Madrid to stay at home today,” Martinez-Almeida wrote online yesterday.

emergency services sent texts to residents warning them of flood risks and advising them not to use vehicles.

In Alcanar, Tarragona, on Spain's east coast, emergency services told residents to stay indoors due to flooding - after 215 litres per square metre of rain in the past 24 hours.