RONDA, Spain: A storm unleashing more than 40 centimetres of rain in 24 hours battered the Iberian Peninsula on Wednesday, forcing thousands of people in southern Spain from their homes, shutting schools and cancelling trains. A string of storms have lashed Spain and Portugal this year, examples of extreme weather events that scientists say human-driven climate change is worsening.
Severe weather had already killed five people and injured hundreds in Portugal last week, but Wednesday´s deluge left no victims in either country. Spanish weather agency AEMET placed parts of the southern region of Andalusia under the highest red alert for the “extraordinary” rain dumped by Storm Leonardo, warning of floods and landslides.
