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Severe flash flooding causes widespread destruction in Spain
The weekend’s cold drop has wreaked havoc on central Spain’s infrastructure
A DANA storm, the worst to hit Spain all year, has left destruction and chaos in many parts of the country.
DANA stands for Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos, or Isolated Depression at High Altitudes, and is also known as a ‘Gota Fría’ or ‘cold drop’. It denotes a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure, often bringing with it very heavy rainfall.
Several weather warnings have been issued by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) across mainland Spain, with the provinces of Madrid, Toledo and Cádiz all on maximum red weather alert, although the Andalusian alert proved to be not as extreme as first predicted.
In Castellón, homes and cars were flooded, necessitating rescues, and the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha was badly affected too, while trains have been cancelled across many parts of the country.
On Sunday September 3, the football match between Atlético Madrid and Sevilla had to be suspended due to the rain.
Arguably the worst of the storm was in the capital Madrid, where torrents of water washed street furniture and whole vehicles down the streets as if they were nothing more than flotsam in a stream, and residents have been asked to stay at home due to “the exceptional and abnormal” rainfall, according to the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida.
Para los decepcionados con el aviso rojo de @AEMET_Esp #Villamantilla al suroeste de Madrid pic.twitter.com/evtLL4dTXq
— Maider Rodríguez (@mairodrigz) September 3, 2023
On the city’s metro system, it was not just station platforms but the actual underground trains that were flooded, with alarmed passengers filming the terrifying incident and posting it to social media.
🇪🇦 | LO ÚLTIMO: Lluvia inundando vagones de metro de Madrid, España. #DANA pic.twitter.com/UOLifTT5MF
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundial2) September 3, 2023
The small town of Aldea del Fresno outside of Madrid was totally cut off by flash flooding of the Río Alberche river, which smashed through several bridges, while residents of other satellite towns such as Villa Del Prado, Villamanta, Villamantilla, Villanueva de Perales, Navalcarnero and El Álamo have had to be evacuated from their homes.
In Murcia’s Águilas, meanwhile, there was an unusually strong episode of Saharan dust which coloured the sky orange.
Impresionante entrada de polvo sahariano. Águilas en estos momentos 16:30 3/9/23 pic.twitter.com/nzsmhlhctk
— Mario Navarro (@Mario17N) September 3, 2023
The storms come after scorching hot weather conditions in Spain at the end of August and a particularly dry summer in general.
Image: Diputació de Castelló
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