Heavy rainfall from Mega Storm Melissa turned roads into rivers across Spain, causing flight cancellations, flooding, and prompting warnings for residents to stay indoors. The storm's impact was felt across multiple regions, including Barcelona, Mallorca, and Ibiza.
Heavy rainfall transformed roads into raging rivers across sunny Spain on Thursday, as the nation bore the brunt of Mega Storm Melissa. This powerful weather system brought widespread disruption, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded and forcing locals to seek shelter. The meteorological service of Catalonia, Meteocat, issued a stringent stay-indoors warning for Barcelona , as the city was relentlessly battered by hailstorms, torrential downpours, and punishing winds.
Residents were strongly urged to exercise extreme caution and advised to avoid all unnecessary travel within the affected zones as Storm Melissa surged across the Iberian Peninsula. The severity of the storm's impact was immediately evident at Barcelona's El Prat Airport, where at least 47 flight cancellations were reported, impacting both domestic and international routes, according to reports from the Spanish news outlet La Vanguardia. Flight tracking websites showed numerous grounded aircraft throughout the morning, illustrating the scale of the disruption. The air traffic control agency, Enaire, released a statement on X (formerly Twitter) highlighting the adverse weather conditions: 'The bad weather with heavy storms in the northeastern peninsula is affecting operations and is causing safety regulations at #Barcelona-#ElPrat airport. We continue to monitor the weather evolution.' Furthermore, the agency recommended that passengers meticulously check the status of their flights before departing for the airport, following reports of delays ranging from 60 to 90 minutes due to the deluge.\Storm Melissa's forceful presence extended far beyond Barcelona, causing significant chaos across the Iberian Peninsula. Dramatic video footage captured residents of Mallorca scrambling for cover amid an aggressive thunderstorm, while other scenes portrayed roads in Barcelona morphing into flooded waterways as the deluge intensified. By 10 a.m. local time, Barcelona firefighters had already responded to a staggering 39 incidents directly related to the torrential rainfall. Rescue efforts were underway, with at least 16 individuals rescued from elevators due to power failures or flooding that left them trapped. In other parts of the Catalonia region, a building in Badia del Valles was evacuated due to the potential for a roof collapse, though thankfully no injuries were reported. However, several local residents required rescuing after their vehicles became stranded in floodwaters. The overflowing of several waterways across the region further underscored the severity of the situation. Social media platforms were inundated with footage, including scenes of flooded streets in the municipality of Cerdanyola del Vallès, situated near Barcelona, and the overflowing of the Sec river. Other videos depicted a garage completely submerged in rainwater. Catalonia's President, Salvador Illa Roca, issued a public call for extreme caution via a post on X, stating: 'In the face of this episode of torrential rains we are experiencing in Catalonia, I continue to ask for maximum caution. It is important to follow the instructions of @emergenciescat, avoid unnecessary travel, and not approach rivers, streams, and gullies.'\Beyond Catalonia, the storm's impact rippled across other areas of Spain. Locals were seen desperately seeking shelter from violent thunderstorms. The Balearic Islands, particularly Palma de Mallorca, experienced near-gridlock conditions due to the deluge of hail and rain, with numerous delays reported at Palma Airport. This popular holiday destination, favored by sun-seeking tourists, especially from Britain, was placed under an orange alert early in the day as authorities braced for the onslaught. Social media was flooded with videos depicting panicked residents running for cover as they were caught in the intense hailstorms and thunder. Footage from Palma Airport showed a flooded runway, further highlighting the widespread disruption. The party island of Ibiza also faced significant challenges as torrential rains triggered several road incidents, accompanied by intense thunder. In the northwestern region of Galicia, wave heights exceeded five meters, accompanied by winds reaching 80 kilometers per hour. The storm is forecast to persist for several days, with the most severe conditions expected in the regions of Andalucia, Galicia, Catalonia, and Aragon. This event follows the recent arrival of Mega Storm Alice, which impacted Spain's Costa Blanca, leaving British tourists stranded. Flightradar24 displayed graphics revealing numerous planes circling Alicante airport due to the disruptions. These extreme weather occurrences are a stark reminder of the devastating flash floods that impacted the Valencia region a year earlier, a natural disaster that claimed the lives of over 230 people, making it one of the deadliest in living memory in Europe
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