Alicante downgrades red weather alert to yellow following morning of torrential downpours

Although precipitation began easing around 8.30am from torrential to moderate-to-strong levels, cumulative totals shattered historical records. In Forna (L'Atzúbia), weather stations recorded an extraordinary 715mm across the storm episode, with 550mm falling in just ten hours overnight between 10pm on Sunday and 8am on Monday. Municipalities such as Pego also surpassed 450mm overnight.

The remaining yellow warning will stay active through the end of Monday, with forecasts estimating up to 30 mm of rain per hour and accumulated totals of 80mm over12 hours.

The relentless deluge caused the Girona river to burst its banks as it passed through Els Poblets, inundating streets and sweeping parked vehicles away. Flooding spread onto local beaches as heavy sea swells prevented rivers, ravines and channels from discharging water into the Mediterranean.

At 7.50am on Monday, the Generalitat Valenciana issued its fourth ES-Alert mobile notification of the storm episode to residents across La Marina Alta. The message urged locals to avoid all travel, remain indoors, refrain from entering basements or garages and avoid using lifts.

Local authorities across multiple municipalities suspended classes, leaving over 21,000 pupils at home.

Aemet urges public to maintain vigilance

Aemet has issued an urgent appeal for the public "not to lower their guard", warning that conditions remain "potentially very adverse" across coastal Valencia and northern Alicante.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the weather agency emphasised that the storm system "has not finished" and that further torrential rain could develop, particularly along the southern coast of Valencia and across La Marina Alta.

Aemet noted that returning atmospheric instability over the sea combined with strong winds could trigger renewed coastal thunderstorms throughout the afternoon and evening.