Tom Ewart Smith
THE Costa del Sol experienced a dramatic lightning display overnight as a powerful Atlantic storm swept across southern Spain, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds and widespread weather alerts.
Residents in Malaga, Cadiz, and other parts of Andalucia were woken by booming thunder and bright flashes that lit up the sky throughout the early hours of Friday morning.
The storm, fuelled by an Atlantic front moving across the peninsula, left much of the south under yellow warnings for both rain and storms, issued by Spain’s national weather agency Aemet.
The worst of the downpours was forecast between 4am and 10am, with some areas seeing up to 20 litres of rain per square metre within an hour.
The alerts cover several provinces including Malaga, Cordoba, Jaen, Sevilla, and Huelva, where stormy conditions are set to persist into the afternoon.
In Malaga, the regions of Ronda, Sol, Guadalhorce and Antequera were particularly affected, while Cadiz saw intense rainfall in the Grazalema mountains and along the coast.
Conditions were also hazardous in the highlands of Cordoba and Jaen, where accumulations of 15 to 20 litres per square metre were expected.
Winds of up to 70 km/h were also forecast in coastal areas of Huelva.
Over a dozen regions across Spain were issued alerts as the storm travelled north.
As the day progresses, clearer skies are forecast for some areas, though the storm’s impact is expected to linger into the weekend, particularly in mountainous and western regions.
