MARBELLA has been battered by giant hail after a massive deluge caused chaos turning streets into rivers.
Severe storms have dumped a month’s worth of rain in an hour wreaking havoc across the Malaga province.
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In the early hours of the morning, hail stones dropped like bullets from the sky during an intense 20-minute storm between downpours that began shortly before midnight.
Spanish weather forecaster AEMET said up to 70mm (roughly 3 inches) of rain had accumulated in an hour.
The average for the region for November would be 100.5 mm.
Parts of Tarragona province in the east also faced heavy rain and remained under red alert.
Shocking footage showed tornado waterspouts approaching the region on Wednesday as a red weather alert for rain was in place.
The warning forced the evacuation of 4,000 people amid flooding fears.
The alert was lowered to orange early this morning – but not before the deadly Dana cold drop left a trail of destruction.
Juanma Moreno, President of Spain’s southern region Andalucia, praised citizens for their “exemplary behaviour” in heeding the advice to avoid unnecessary travel and stay at home where possible.
He said: “It has ensured that at this moment in time we haven’t had to lament the loss of human lives.”
One local took to X to say: “At 4am I woke up because of the hailstorm that has battered the town.
“I’m very tired but duty calls so I’m leaving for work.
“In theory everything’s over now. All my support and encouragement for those who have suffered property damage.”
Another woken up by the large hail stones crashing against the windows of her home, wrote: “What’s falling on Marbella is incredible. Hail, torrential rain, what a storm!”
Another local wrote overnight: “I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long in Marbella.
“And non-stop storms, lightning and hail.”
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Police had sealed off some underpasses to pedestrians and motorists in the area.
Schools across the province were closed, along with many stores.
Train service was cancelled between Malaga and Madrid, and between Barcelona and Valencia.
Meanwhile, Valencia was also put on red alert last night- weeks after the devastating floods killed over 200 people.
Forecasters said up to 180mm (7 inches) of rain could fall within five hours.
Valencia’s regional government also restricted the use of private vehicles until Thursday in areas hit by the October storm, when tsunami-like floods caused severe car pile-ups.
The storm was moving westwards today with problems predicted for Spanish provinces nearer Portugal including Huelva and Cadiz although things are not expected to get as bad as they have been in Malaga.
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