(Madrid) Part of Spain is placed on Tuesday on weather alert due to a major rainy episode affecting the Iberian Peninsula, where waterspouts have caused occasional flooding in recent days after months of drought.
These heavy rains, too late according to specialists to solve the serious hydrological deficit from which Spain suffers, particularly affected the south-eastern regions, including the provinces of Almeria and Alicante, with numerous storms recorded during the weekend.
Torrential rains also fell on Madrid, in particular on Monday evening, causing the cutting of certain roads and delays on several metro lines, affected in places by impressive water infiltrations.
According to the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET), which on Tuesday kept part of the territory in yellow or orange vigilance due in particular to a risk of hail, thunderstorms and violent gales, this rainy episode should continue in course of the next few days.
This should allow a “significant positive contribution to the rainfall deficit” from which Spain has been suffering for months, hit by a historic drought, with serious consequences for its entire important agricultural sector.
According to specialists, these torrential rains – which tend to run off instead of infiltrating the ground – are nevertheless insufficient and too late to put an end to the deficit from which the groundwater tables and the water reservoirs of the country suffer.
According to the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition, these reservoirs saw their level drop during the last week of May to 47.5% of their capacity, against 47.7% the previous week, i.e. almost 20 points less than the average of the last ten years at this time of year (68.1%).
According to AEMET, Spain experienced the hottest and driest month in April since weather records began in the country. This heat wave followed several months of drought, after 2022 was considered the hottest in Spain’s recent history.
This situation prompted the government to announce in mid-May an emergency plan of more than two billion euros, intended mainly for the agricultural sector – the lack of water having prompted many farmers to give up spring sowing, in particular of grains and oilseeds.