Showers and storms across Spain this weekend, floods kill 102-year-old woman

A 102-year-old woman tragically lost her life and 90 individuals were rescued on Friday in Madrigueras, Spain, due to flash flooding that inundated the entire town. The municipal authorities documented an extraordinary 142 litres of rainfall per square metre, triggering the activation of the Adverse Meteorological Risk Plan (METEOCAM). The victim's house sustained water levels up to one metre high, leading to approximately 90 rescues carried out by emergency services during the day and into the evening.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his condolences to the victim's family and solidarity with the affected residents on X. Meanwhile, the President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, toured Madrigueras on Saturday, where Civil Guard personnel were engaged in cleanup efforts.

Storms are expected to continue throughout the weekend, with heavy rainfall predicted to fall during the night and early Friday morning in Tarragona and Castellón, particularly in the Lower Ebro region. Orange alerts were issued for Tarragona, the Valencia region, Balearic Islands, Murcia, and the provinces of Almería, Granada, and Albacete due to the potential for strong storms accompanied by hail.

The unsettled weather will spread to additional areas of the peninsula over the weekend, with Saturday potentially experiencing further heavy rain along the Tarragona coast and in Extremadura, Salamanca, the Central System, and Aragon.

Throughout the day on Saturday, showers and thunderstorms could reach virtually any part of the peninsula, with intense downpours and hail possible in certain regions, including the Iberian System, southeastern sierras, Pyrenees, northwestern quadrant, Balearic Islands, and Mediterranean coast. These conditions are less likely in western Galicia and the Canary Islands.

Temperatures are expected to rise in Galicia, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque Country, and the Canary Islands, while falling in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and inland Spain, remaining unchanged elsewhere.

Sunday will see unsettled conditions persist, with widespread rain and thunderstorms, potentially featuring a DANA, a slow-moving high-altitude low-pressure system that can bring torrential rain to the western half of mainland Spain. While the rainfall may not be heavier than recent hours in Tarragona or Castellón, the likelihood of similar or more conditions developing elsewhere remains. Only along the Galician coast are skies expected to remain mostly clear or slightly cloudy.