Spain has suffered from a day-long seasonal hailstorm that caused major flooding in Madrid and southeast regions of the country.
Madrid’s roads and metro traffic have been disrupted due to massive flooding that transformed streets into rivers, according to local authorities. The storm caused flight delays and flooded tunnels and parking lots.
Social media users have shared video footage of the day, showing cars and dumpsters dragged down the stream in waterlogged streets, and piles of hail, some the size of ping-pong balls, in several areas.
Giornata complicatissima oggi a #Madrid#hailstorm #flooding pic.twitter.com/PVlOCoazHL
— Augusto Ciardi (@augustociardi) August 26, 2019
”No one was hurt and the interventions were relatively minor for a storm of this magnitude: removing branches from roads, floods in garages, basements or commercial premises”, a spokesman for the Spanish Emergency Service stated.
La tormenta se ve en el eco del radar que mostrado antes de este tweet … la fuerte tromba caída en el sureste de #Madrid nos deja las primeras imágenes captadas en las calles de #Arganda @PadelKass donde el cielo se ha desplomado en pocos minutos … wow! #lluvia #Tormenta pic.twitter.com/ELI1LFB4sq
— Mario Picazo (@picazomario) August 26, 2019
The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has stated that it recorded more than 9,000 bolts of lightning in six hours.
#Madrid #tormenta slow motion a 120 fps pic.twitter.com/Z5TRONTZUi
— Alonso Trenado (@AlonsoTrenado) August 26, 2019
The rains moved on 27 August to the east coast and to the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean, the meteorological agency added.
Apocalyse Now#Madrid pic.twitter.com/8JMtw2jwKq
— Lucía Álvarez (@Lucia_Alvarez_) August 26, 2019
There are no reports about injured people or the degree of the damage caused yet.