Flash floods are affecting travel to Spain and Ibiza - here’s everything you need to know

Torrential rain and a barrage of storms across Spain has left the country’s tourist hotspots stricken by flash flooding. Major roads in Madrid became rivers, and cars in idyllic holiday destination Ibiza were completely submerged by the flooding caused by the downpour. The water on the streets of Madrid was reportedly so strong that cars were being swept away, and Spanish meteorologists Aemet reported 9,300 lighting strikes in Madrid in a six hour period. Lightning was also reported in the skies above the Basque region in the north of the country. And huge hail storms caused two foot thick walls of ice to form in the Arganda del Rey area southeast of the capital, which was one of the worst-hit areas. There were 152 callouts for the fire brigade in the region and emergency services said that they received more than 1,000 calls. The hail storms were followed by torrential rain, which has caused further flooding. Flights from London and elsewhere in Europe scheduled to land in Madrid-Barajas airport at midnight were forced to divert because of the storm. Other areas of Spain have also been badly hit by the weather. Seville has experience downpours, with flooding damaging homes and crops. The Malaga region on the south coast has faced tornadoes, one of which caused a flash of fire after an electricity pylon was uprooted. The forecast Aemet has said that the bad weather is heading east, with Alicante, Valencia and the Balearic Islands all on orange alert. Ibiza saw the heaviest rain for the whole of Spain on Tuesday. The meteorologist agency said, “We expect the isolated depression at high levels to continue its progress east, bringing rain and uncertainty to a large part of the peninsula and the Balearics.” “Strong or very strong and persistent squalls and storms are likely in the Valencia region, Murcia and the western part of the Balearics.” However, a number of weather forecasts now say that the storms have cleared, and predict sunny weather across much of Spain in the next few days. Rain is still predicted for the eastern part of Spain, with Aemet weather warnings for heavy rain for the regions of Aragon, Castilla-la-Mancha, parts of Catalonia and Communitat Valencia. Travel advice Planes headed from London to Madrid, as well as one from Southend to Palma, Majorca, have been diverted so far this week. However, the government has not yet changed its travel advice for the region. If you are planning to travel to parts of Spain on holiday, it is worth checking that your flight is scheduled to go ahead as planned.