Storm Leonardo triggers red alerts in southern Spain, forcing over 3,000 evacuations and widespread school closures amid flood and landslide warnings.
MADRID: More than 3,000 people in southern Spain remained evacuated from their homes on Wednesday.
The evacuations came as Storm Leonardo brought what forecasters termed “extraordinary” rain to the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain’s AEMET weather agency issued its highest red alert for torrential rain in parts of Andalusia.
It warned the storm risked triggering dangerous floods and landslides across the region.
AEMET spokesman Ruben del Campo said an “extraordinary amount of rain” was falling on already saturated ground.
He noted that riverbeds were already carrying high water levels from recent precipitation.
Andalusian emergency services confirmed the precautionary evacuations from flood-prone areas began on Tuesday.
Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to assist rescue services across the affected region.
All schools in Andalusia were closed, except for those in the easternmost province of Almeria.
The severe weather follows deadly floods in Spain in October 2024 that killed more than 230 people.
Most of those deaths occurred in the eastern region of Valencia.
In neighbouring Portugal, part of the coast was under an orange alert as Leonardo swept in.
Severe weather in Portugal killed five people just last week.
Northern and central Portuguese regions were also on alert for expected heavy snowfall.
Strong winds and precipitation are forecast to continue in the area until Saturday.
Scientists consistently link human-driven climate change to more intense and frequent extreme weather.
Such events are becoming longer, more frequent, and more intense due to global warming.
