Spain records rainiest October ever, culminating in deadly floods
MADRID, Nov 8 (Reuters) -Spain has registered the rainiest October on record, culminating in the most deadly floods in decades in the country, the national weather agency AEMET said on Friday.
More than 220 people died after torrential rains on Oct. 29 caused flash floods that surged through suburbs south of the city of Valencia, in eastern Spain, sweeping away cars and bridges and flooding properties and underground car parks.
Seventy-eight people are missing, although the government believes some of them could match some of the 48 bodies still to be identified.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists believe the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.
Peninsular Spain had an average of 147 millimetres (mm) of rain this October, almost twice the average amount in a normal October, AEMET added.
Turis, a town 15 km (about 9 miles) upstream from Valencia city where a year's worth of rain fell in a day, broke the national record of rainfall in an hour with 184.6 mm falling.
With 771 mm of rain in 24 hours, Turis was also close to breaking the record registered in 1987 in nearby Oliva of 817 mm.
AEMET said October was a warm month overall, with an average temperature over peninsular Spain of 15.5 ° Celsius (59.9° F), 0.9 °C above average.
Reporting by Emma Pinedo, editing by Inti Landauro and Ros Russell
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
