A 59-year-old man has died after being seriously injured when a terrace structure collapsed during Wednesday’s violent storm in Huelva.
The severe weather prompted a red alert across the province, with emergency services recording 1,499 incidents across Andalucía in a single day.
According to the regional emergency coordination service (112 Andalucia), the storm brought intense rainfall, strong winds and a small tornado in the municipality of Gibraleon, which caused dozens of incidents including fallen trees, damaged roofs and flooded streets.
The most serious occurred when part of a terrace structure gave way, injuring the man who later died from his injuries on Friday.
Authorities warn of more storms ahead
The Junta de Andalucía’s Minister for Health, Antonio Sanz, praised the rapid response of emergency teams and warned that further severe weather is expected in the coming weeks.
‘We are facing a train of storms that could lead to high-risk situations,’ he cautioned on Thursday.
It follows a dramatic few days of heavy rain and flooding across Andalucia.
Sevilla recorded the highest daily rainfall in its history, with the municipal water company Emasesa confirming that 115 litres per square metre fell between midnight and 3pm on Wednesday.
At peak intensity, the storm delivered 25 litres in just one hour, according to the city council.
The torrential downpour caused over 600 incidents across the city, overwhelming stormwater tanks and paralysing traffic in multiple areas.
‘In just one hour, Sevilla received around 20% of its average annual rainfall,’ the City Council noted on X.
State weather agency Aemet confirmed that the volume of rain exceeded anything on record at Sevilla Airport’s official weather station – a record-keeping site since 1951.
Remarkably, the 115 litres fell within 13 hours, smashing the city’s previous daily record of 109.3 litres, set in November 1997.
While Wednesday’s storm broke records for rainfall volume, its impact has so far been less severe than the devastating 1997 floods, which led to mass evacuations across the province.
Back then, swollen rivers – including the Guadalquivir and the Genil – burst their banks in December, forcing around 1,000 people from their homes, especially in the town of Ecija. The flooding was worsened by simultaneous snowmelt in the mountains.
This week’s disruption has not reached those levels, but it did cause major traffic and transport chaos, especially in Sevilla and Huelva.
Rail services between the two provinces were suspended due to severe weather, including a reported waterspout off the Huelva coast.
The Costa del Sol also saw localised flooding, which left streets submerged in flood water and sewage pipes overflowing.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
