Almost a year's worth of rain fell in just eight hours in the worst-affected part of Valencia this week. It was triggered by a phenomenon called DANA.
More than 200 people have died in Spain after nearly a year's worth of rain fell in a matter of hours. On Friday, there were at least 205 confirmed deaths in Valencia, two in Castilla La Mancha, and one in Andalusia. Local authorities issued warnings late on Tuesday, but many say this gave them next-to-no time to prepare for the conditions that had killed dozens by Wednesday. Follow Spain flooding latest Here we look at what caused the flooding - and why they could happen again.
- 'depresion aislada en niveles altos' in Spanish - which translates as 'isolated low-pressure system at high levels'. occurs when: 1) Cold air from the north moves south; 2) Warm air then blows over the Mediterranean, rising quickly and forming heavy clouds; 3) The low pressure from the north gets blocked by the high pressure above the water, causing it to slow down or stop completely. This creates storm-like conditions that cannot move anywhere else - so the rain falls over the same area for a sustained period of time.
specifically have struck Spain long before humans started warming the climate. But climate change is making heavy rain worse, and therefore more dangerous. That's because hotter air is able to hold more moisture. So when it rains, it unleashes more water. The current 1.3C increase in global temperatures since pre-industrial times means the air can carry about 9% more moisture.
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