A popular holiday hotspot for Brits has been placed under a weather warning after being hit by a deluge of devastating rain. A state of emergency was declared by local officials in Lanzarote after torrential rain saw homes and cars swamped by floodwater during a two-hour period.
A staggering 60 litres of water fell per square metre in the brief period in the some of the heavy rain spots – which is more than a month’s worth of the average rainfall in the UK. The public were urged to avoid all unnecessary travel.
Have you been affected by the weather in Lanzarote? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk
Cars were left abandoned in the streets after roads were turned into deep and dangerous flowing rivers. Footage showed carparks flooded and large swathes of the land submerged under brown murky water. Locals also complained of a horrific sewage smell in the area. The huge downpour comes just days after Storm Oliver passed over Lanzarote, prompting several flights to the popular British hotspot to be cancelled or diverted on Thursday.
Firefighers were seen coming to the rescue of people stranded in cars following the intense flooding yesterday.
In the shocking clip, local shops are flooded by the brown murky water and cars are left unable to move. Emergency services had to come to their rescue.
Firefighters on the scene helping people from floods in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain pic.twitter.com/6PZZPzgRPv
Emergency services in Lanzarote confirmed “300 homes” had submerged under water following the flooding.
Enrique Espinosa, head of emergency services for the Lanzarote government, said some locals had been badly affected.
“We have been working all night, attending 300 calls overnight, many of them in Arrecife and Teguise. Some houses are flooded and what remains is a great quantity of mud,” Espinosa told RTVE state television on Sunday.
This is the terrifying moment Lanzarote was hit by a deluge of rain, prompting local officials to declare a state of emergency.
The storm, which broke out on Saturday afternoon, saw cars being left dumped on the roads after they were flooded. Local transport was also badly affected, with holidaymakers being advised to postpone their trip or find alternative accommodation while the island deals with the horror weather.
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