Holidaymaker Andy Forrest, 58, from North Shields, described the scene in Benidorm as ‘crazy’ as a torrential rainstorm turned the holiday hotspot’s streets into rivers
This is the moment a Benidorm street turned into a river while being hit by torrential rain. Tourists were left shocked by the downpour, which came at around 3pm on Tuesday, following months of sunshine. Video obtained by the Mirror showed one man pretending to swim through the rain, while another clip included a police car pushing a huge green bottle bin, which had floated away, back to its usual position.
Retail manager Andy Forrest, 58, from North Shields, is on holiday in Benidorm with his wife. Speaking on Wednesday, he told us: “It was mad – it was crazy.
“We were sitting there quite happy. You could see dark clouds, but then the heavens opened and I saw the water coming down the street. It was just a river. A great big bottle bin went gliding down the road. I thought ‘have I seen right?’.
Andy added: “It’s like chalk and cheese today – we had torrential rain yesterday and now it feels like 50-odd degrees again today. Looking at it now, you would never think it rained yesterday.”
Barbu Cornel, 46, known as Gogo, owns Benidorm’s White Horse pub. He filmed the police car pushing the bottle bin back up the road near his business after it floated down the road.
He said: “[The rain] was going for a maximum of one hour. Ten minutes after that video it was sunny again.”
Barbu said customers inside his pub, which sells beer for just two euros (£1.73) during the day and plays Northern Soul, enjoyed the spectacle. He said: “The customers were laughing and enjoying it. They were having fun.”
Pub worker Teo Bordis filmed a pal pretending to swim down the road as the rain battered the tourist hotspot. The 47-year-old, who is originally from Romania and has worked in the nearby Plaza Vincents pub since 2010, said customers were in shock.
She said: “They were all in the pub amazed about so much water and were all at the windows filming. The storm came after nearly four months of no rain.”
Similar weather also hit other parts of Spain, including the Balearic region, where the government activated an emergency plan as extreme rain and winds of up to 62mph struck.
In Majorca, more than 22 litres of water per square metre reportedly fell in just 10 minutes and 34 litres in an hour, according to the delegate and spokesperson for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) in the Balearic Islands, María José Guerrero.
Gusts of more than 90km-an-hour were also recorded leading to severe flooding, fallen trees and damage to boats and cars, including some left underwater.
Motorists were ordered to “abandon vehicles and move to higher ground”. They were also advised to fully charge their mobile phones and ensure they have enough fuel in their vehicles. Passengers at Palma Airport suffered substantial delays as a result of the weather.
Elsewhere on the continent, forecaster Severe Weather Europe warned of “extremely high rainfall” in three zones across the north-central Mediterranean on Wednesday and even possible tornadoes along Italy’s western coasts.
In Tuscany, cars were left submerged as underpasses and carparks flooded and some residents were forced onto rooftops to escape rising water.
The worst affected areas were understood to be Avenza, Marina, and Fossone, where water invaded basements and ground floors, causing the pavement to rise up in some parts.