Laurence Dollimore
SPAIN’S state weather agency AEMET has upgraded a number of its warnings for this weekend.
It comes as heavy rainfall and storms are set to batter dozens of provinces in southern, central and eastern mainland areas and the Balearic Islands.
The entirety of Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca are on an orange alert for Saturday (pictured above).
READ MORE: Watch: Weather chaos in Spain as half the country is placed on alert
An orange alert is the second-most serious, after red, and means there is a ‘significant risk’ to life.
Across all three islands, the weather warning is in place from 4pm and until midnight.
Forecasters expect up to 50mm of rain to fall per square metre per hour.
They are also predicting very strong winds of between 70 and 120km/hr and so-called ‘waterspouts’ in the sea surrounding the Balearics.
Waterspouts are essentially tornadoes that form over water and can be very dangerous if they pass over boats. They are known as a sailor’s ‘worst nightmare’.
On mainland Spain, the eastern coast, from the north of Valencia until the end of Castellon, will also be on orange alert for strong rain and winds tomorrow. As will the southern coast of Tarragona, in Catalonia.
Meanwhile, scores of other provinces and holiday hotspots are on yellow alert for rain.
They include the majority of Alicante, including Benidorm, Torrevieja, Elche, Gandia, Lorca and Murcia.
In the south, the majority of Andalucia’s coastline is on a yellow alert for heavy rain tomorrow.
This includes all of Almeria’s coast, the whole Costa del Sol (including Marbella and Estepona) and the Granada coastline.
