Alicante is hit by flash floods as hellish torrents of water flood the streets of Britain’s popular holiday destination – with drivers rescued from their cars while vehicles are swept away

Alicante has been devastated by flash floods that swept cars through the streets, just days after floods in Valencia killed 214 people.

New images and videos from the tourist hotspot, popular with British holidaymakers, show streets flooded with dirty rainwater that has fallen in recent days.

One video showed a man being forced to swim away from his car after it was swept under a bridge in the province’s Altea. He was seen swimming towards a tree in his clothes.

Another video showed water rapidly flowing down a staircase in the town of Altea, flowing faster and faster as it reached the bottom.

Alicante has been devastated by flash floods that swept cars through the streets, just days after floods in Valencia killed 214 people

Alicante airport is still sending and receiving passenger planes, although dozens of flights have been delayed, many of which come from Britain.

It comes after the death toll from the Valencia floods rose to a horrific 214, making it the deadliest floods in Spain’s history.

Dozens of people are still missing as the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanches said he would send another 5,000 army troops to help with the searches and clean-ups, in addition to the 2,500 soldiers already deployed.

“It is the largest operation of the armed forces in Spain in peacetime,” Sánchez said. “The government will mobilize all necessary resources for as long as they are needed.”

Alicante airport is still sending and receiving passenger planes, although dozens of flights have been delayed, many of which come from Britain

Streets are completely flooded

More flooding from storm DANA has hit the holiday towns of Mazzaron and Agulias on the Costa Blanca

Valencia regional authorities said on Saturday evening that the total number of fatalities in the region stood at 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

The tragedy is already the worst flood disaster in Europe since 1967, when at least 500 people died in Portugal.

In the Valencia suburb of Picanya, shop owner Emilia, 74, told Reuters on Saturday: ‘We feel abandoned, there are many people who need help.

‘It’s not just my house, it’s all houses and we throw away furniture, we throw away everything.

‘When will help come for refrigerators and washing machines? Because we can’t even wash our clothes and we can’t even take a shower.’

A woman cleans thick mud, in the aftermath of flooding caused by heavy rain, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, November 3, 2024

The Spanish army begins clean-up operations after the deadly floods in the Valencian city of Paiporta, Spain on November 3, 2024

Nurse Maria Jose Gilabert, 52, who also lives in Picanya, said: ‘We are devastated because there is not much light to see at the moment, not because they are not coming to help, they are coming from all over Spain. but because it will take a long time before this becomes habitable again.’

The storm caused a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rain is expected to continue this weekend.

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more common in Europe and elsewhere due to climate change.

Meteorologists believe warming of the Mediterranean Sea, which increases water evaporation, is playing a key role in making downpours more severe.

More to follow.