Violent hailstorms cause travel chaos across Andalucía by Steph Ball
Autumn is thought to have well and truly arrived across Andalucía, Spain, this week with the onset of some stormy weather.
On Thursday the Spanish Institute of Meteorology (INM) issued alerts for heavy rain across the Andalucian provinces of Cádiz, Huelva, Sevilla, Córdoba, Málaga and Jaén.
Violent downpours brought travel chaos across the region during Friday, triggering flash floods. In some cases hailstones as big as tennis balls are also reported to have fallen. The Marbella area was said to have been the worst affected by the hailstorms, shattering hundreds of car windscreens and leaving 18 people injured.
Widespread floods also left roads and rail routes blocked across the region, with the main rail line from Jaén to Madrid suffering. Many homes were also affected. One man was killed in Almuñecar when a garage wall collapsed. Meanwhile in the town of Nerja and surrounding villages, up to 40,000 residents were left without power for several hours. Back in the west of Andalucía, the rain is reported to have ruined 15% of the grape harvest in the Jerez region.
The wet weather has extended to other parts of Spain, with weather forecasters predicting heavy rain for Castilla-la-Mancha and the Valencian region as well.
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