Thousands evacuated in Costa del Sol and locals tie their CARS to lamp posts to stop them being washed away as storm red alert is issued and officials warn ‘extreme rainfall’ could spark more floods

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in the Costa del Sol over new flooding fears after a weather alert for the area went from yellow to red and locals and holidaymakers were warned of an ‘extreme risk.’

Spain’s Civil Protection Agency sent a mass alert to mobile phones in Malaga province just after 10pm last night warning in Spanish and English: ‘Red warning activated. Extreme risk of rainfall. Be very cautious, avoid travel.’

Malagans are so fearful of a repeat of the damage that the Valencia floods wrought late last month, that many were seen tying their cars up to lampposts, and wrapping them in plastic to limit water exposure.  

In a move estimated to have affected more than 300,000 pupils, it was announced all schools in the province would remain shut today.

A ‘preventative’ evacuation began earlier of around 3,000 people living in approximately 1,000 homes near the Guadalhorce River, one of the worst-affected areas during torrential rainfall and storms a fortnight ago which were blamed for the death of a 71-year-old British expat.

The famous Costa del Sol including the tourist resorts of Marbella and Estepona is expected to take the brunt of the extreme weather phenomenon known as a DANA, a cold drop which was the cause of the catastrophic flash floods which killed more than 200 people in and around the east coast city of Valencia alone.

Roads were a lot quieter than normal with people deciding to work from home rather than take any risks with the red weather alert in place.

As torrential rain began to fall in resorts like Marbella, Europe’s largest department store group El Corte Ingles announced after normal morning opening that it was closing all its stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets in Malaga province.

Spanish savings bank Unicaja also decided to close its offices in both Malaga and Granada province and send its employees home shortly after opening as the weather worsened.

Around 15 people were evacuated from their homes on a residential estate in Arroyo de la Miel near the coastal resort of Benalmadena following the collapse of a wall.

As heavy rain and thunder and lightning battered Marbella following a dry start to the morning, a spectacular waterspout tornado formed off the coast.

There were no reports of it causing any injuries.

Regional government representative Antonio Sanz admitted last night as he announced the residential evacuations and today’s school closures: ‘The situation for the province of Malaga is of extreme risk.

‘The forecast was that we were going to be on yellow alert but weather agency Aemet has raised this to red.’

Residents in specific areas near to the River Guadalhorce in inland towns like Alora, Cartama and Alhaurin de la Torre have been moved from their homes to temporary shelters including sports centres where they are unable to find alternative accommodation with friends or relatives.

The British OAP who died in hospital in Malaga a fortnight ago had been rescued hours earlier from his flooded home in one of the at-risk areas with hypothermia after suffering a heart attack.

Locals were pictured yesterday afternoon boarding up the doors to their homes or laying sandbags in front of them as they prepared for what was to come.

People also started stockpiling, with reports of supermarkets in parts of Malaga being emptied of products like mineral water and meat.

Castellon north of Valencia, another of the areas that was put on red alert, got an early taste of the latest extreme weather phenomenon to affect Spain.

Towns like Benicarlo, which hosts a famous annual music festival, and Vinaros were among the worst places hit.

Street rubbish containers ended up floating down flooded streets last night there as motorists struggled to avoid them.

School closures today because of the bad weather will also affect thousands of children on the northern part of the Costa Blanca including Denia and Calpe near Benidorm.

The city of Valencia and some of its suburb towns, still recovering from the horror floods late last month, also decided to suspend classes. 

Two brothers swept away from the father as he desperately held onto them during the Valencia floods last month have been found.

The bodies of Ruben and Izan Matias were found five miles downstream by a group of specialist Mexican rescue volunteers.

The siblings had been washed away as their father Victor held onto them while floodwaters swirled around their home at Torrent on the outskirts of Valencia 15 days ago.

A large shipping container picked up from a nearby lorry park had slammed into their home and knocked the walls down sending them hurtling down river.

In a message on social media a relative confirmed they had been found on Tuesday and said:’ We are devastated. We had no hope of finding them alive, but it always hurts when they confirm that they have died.

‘We have a certain peace for having recovered them and being able to begin mourning for the little ones.

Another relative said: ‘Our little angels are now watching over us from heaven. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your displays of affection.’

A bone-dry summer in Spain has given way to an autumn of freak weather phenomenons.

Last Friday residents in Cadaques in the northern Spanish province of Girona woke up to a scene of destruction after 32 cars were washed away by flood water.

Many ended up piled on top of each other by a bridge in front of the town casino, with at least one of the smashed-up vehicles appearing to belong to foreign tourists because of the number plate that was clearly visible.

Miraculously there were no reports of any human casualties in the former fishing village near to the former home of famous artist Salvador Dali.

Cadaques is just over three hundred miles north of Valencia, where the vast majority of the 223 people who lost their lives in the flash floods late last month in Spain died.

Spanish King Felipe VI, who was pelted with mud along with Queen Letizia and Spanish politicians including the PM Pedro Sanchez during his first visit to Valencia in the aftermath of the natural disaster, returned to the city alone yesterday.

This time he visited soldiers who have been helping in rescue and clean-up work.

Last last month two people were injured after a waterspout made land in the Costa de la Luz resort of Isla Cristina near Spain’s border with Portugal.

One man was injured when a window smashed during the terrifying phenomenon.

The council worker was in the municipal swimming pool at the time.

He suffered a calf injury described at the time as ‘serious’. The victim had a tourniquet put on him to slow down the bleeding before he was rushed to hospital.