Spain floods latest: British man, 71, among dead in Spanish floods as death toll nears 100

• At least 73 people have been killed after torrential rain led to flash floods in villages, towns and cities across eastern and southern Spain. Of those, 62 died in the Valencia region, while two were killed in the Castilla La Mancha provence.
• More than 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response unit have been deployed to the most devastated areas to help search for missing people, and to clear up the damage caused by the floods.
• Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has warned the danger is not over despite rain having subsided in Valencia by late Wednesday morning, with the storm heading north. “For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” he said in a televised message.
• The project to rebuild towns and cities following the damage will be huge, said Mr Sanchez, who also hinted he could call on the help of European Union states. Germany has already offered its support.
• Spain’s state weather agency, AEMET, has issued alerts for regions in the south west and north east of the country, with heavy showers forecast.

Spain’s government said it would declare three days of mourning starting tomorrow for those killed.

The death toll appears to be the worst in Europe from flooding since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany.

It is the deadliest flood-related disaster in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died near a town in the Pyrenees mountains.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Europe was ready to help. “What we’re seeing in Spain is devastating,” she said on social media.

The death toll from flash floods in Valencia and eastern Spain has reached at least 95, Spanish officials said.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said dozens of towns had been flooded.

“For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” Mr Sanchez said in a televised address. “Our priority is to help you. We are putting all the resources necessary so that we can recover from this tragedy.”

A 71-year-old British man has been confirmed as one of the casualties of the flash floods.

President of the Andalusian government, Juanma Morena, said the man had died in hospital hours after being rescued from his home on the outskirts of Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga.

He added that he was suffering from hypothermia and died after suffering several cardiac arrests.

The mayor of a town where six people died and more were unaccounted for says it was the worst day of his life.

Ricardo Gabaldon, mayor of Utiel in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE: “We were trapped like rats. Cars and rubbish containers were flowing down the streets. The water was rising to 3 meters (9.8ft).”

Searchers worked to find survivors and victims, with countless numbers still missing.

The catastrophic flash floods that have killed at least 72 people in Spain are caused by a destructive weather system in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds, a pattern believed to be growing more frequent due to climate change.

The phenomenon is known locally as Dana, a Spanish acronym for high-altitude isolated depression, and unlike common storms or squalls, it can form independently of polar or subtropical jet streams.

When cold air blows over warm Mediterranean waters, it causes hotter air to rise quickly and form dense, water-laden clouds that can remain over the same area for many hours, raising their destructive potential. This sometimes provokes large hail and tornadoes, as seen this week, meteorologists say.

Eastern and southern Spain are particularly susceptible to the phenomenon. Warm, humid air masses and cold fronts meet in a region where mountains favour the formation of storm clouds and rainfall.

This week’s Dana was one of the three most intense such storms in the past century in the Valencia region, said Ruben del Campo, spokesperson for the national weather agency Aemet.

A 71-year-old man who was rescued from his home after the floods in Malaga has died in hospital.

According to the Andalusian President Juanma Moreno, the man was transferred from the affected town of Álora on Tuesday.

Portuguese prime minister Luis Montenegro has said his country is ready support Spain following the deadly floods.

“The Portuguese government expresses its strongest condolences over the high number of flood victims in Spain, shows solidarity with all the Spanish people and the government and makes itself available for all necessary help,” he said.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock also offered help to Spain.

“Europe is standing together. Germany is ready to help in any way necessary,” Ms Baerbock said.

And Ms Meloni said: “Italy is close to Spain in this terrible moment.”