Deadly floods in Spain: record rainfall recorded in October

The bad weather was of rare violence in Spain, at least in October. While the country is still facing heavy rainfall with devastating consequences, the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet) reported that October 2024 was the wettest month ever recorded in the country. “An average value over peninsular Spain of 147 liters of precipitation per square meter”or 14.7 centimeters, was recorded, Aemet said in a press release.

A record rainfall in 24 hours

This represents “nearly double” of the normal value, according to the meteorological agency, which mentions a record since the beginning of records in 1961, ahead of the years 1979 and 2003, until now the rainiest. The month of October was also abnormally hot, with an average temperature of 15.5°C in mainland Spain, “i.e. 0.9°C higher than average” for this time of year, the press release said.

The cumulative rainfall was particularly high during the bad weather which devastated the south-east of the country, and in particular the Valencia region, between October 29 and 30, according to Aemet. In Turís, a town of 7,000 inhabitants located in the hinterland of Valencia, 771 liters of rain per square meter (77.1 cm fell in 24 hours, including 185 over a period of just one hour). This is a “record for Spain over such a period” time, insists the Spanish agency.

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The very heavy rainfall caused historic flooding in the region. They left at least 219 dead and dozens missing, according to the authorities. A particularly violent climatic event which was fueled by human-caused climate change, as shown by an analysis by the ClimaMeter scientific initiative.