Spain flash floods: expert comments

At least 51 people are known to have died after torrential rain caused flash floods in south-eastern Spain, authorities have said. 

Dr Jess Neumann, Associate Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, said: “The flash floods in Spain are another terrible reminder of the changing and more chaotic weather we are experiencing as a result of climate change. 

“The storms have developed as a result of cooler air passing over the warm Mediterranean ocean, creating atmospheric instability and bringing with it torrential rain. These types of storms can develop quickly and with relatively short warning. 

“Local communities have reported walls of water up to three meters high. The loss of life shows us that we are not fully prepared to deal with storms like those that have hit southeastern Spain. 

“We need to give serious consideration to how we can better design our landscapes, towns and cities. In the longer term, this will need to include radical redesign of urban areas.

“Flash floods can affect anyone, anywhere. We take preparation for other hazards such as earthquakes and tsunami very seriously with education, drills, and emergency kits. It is time we afforded the same to flood risk preparedness.”

Professor Liz Stephens, Professor in Climate Risks and Resilience at the University of Reading, said: “People shouldn't be dying from these kinds of forecasted weather events in countries where they have the resources to do better.

“While a red weather warning was issued for the region with sufficient time for people to move out of harm's way, a red warning alone doesn't communicate what the impact will be and what people should do.

“Climate scientists have been warning for years that climate change will lead to more intense rainfall, and the tragic consequences of this event show that we have a long way to go to prepare for this kind of event, and worse, in future.”

Professor Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, said: "The weather phenomenon that caused the Spanish floods is quite specific to that region at this time of year, involving the interaction of warm, moist and colder air flows, leading to the build up of extremely active thunderstorms.

Professor Richard Allan,  Professor of Climate Science, University of Reading, said: “Weather patterns jettisoned a giant bubble of cold air, a thousand kilometres across, far to the south over the Iberian peninsula and this funnelled huge quantities of moisture up over Spanish mountains leading to sustained and intense rainfall and severe flash flooding. 

"The volumes of rainfall seen were made much larger by human caused climate change that have heated the oceans and increased moisture in the atmosphere by around 7% for every degree Celsius of warming. 

"While it is less clear if climate change is increasing the chances of these dangerous weather patterns occurring, the reduced temperature contrast between warmer and colder latitudes, partly due to amplified warming in the Arctic, is expected to disrupt the jet stream that controls these fluctuations in wind and weather. The resulting extremes of wet and dry, where and when they occur, are being supercharged by a warmer, thirstier atmosphere. 

"Limiting damage and loss of life from extreme weather is only possible through adapting our infrastructure and early warnings to a more dangerous world and crucially by rapidly and massively cutting our greenhouse gas emissions, which is the crux of the problem.”