A spectacular tornado has battered the outskirts of Malaga, near southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, on Monday evening as scorching temperatures gave way to a freak weather system. Thunder, torrential rain and hail swept across parts of southern Spain, before videos emerged of a tornado churning near Campillos. Emergency services received hundreds of phone calls as the tornado whipped across southern Spain, which is reported to have ploughed into an electricity pylon, producing a massive flash of fire.
Onlookers claimed they had never seen anything like the phenomenal event, with one storm chaser branding the moment ”spectacular”.
Video footage posted on social media has shown the vast size of the huge system, as it whipped up debris.
Some footage has also shown damage caused by the freak system in Campillos, with buildings hit by the powerful winds.
Since the tornado hit the region, torrential rainfall has triggered flash flooding in streets and damaging houses.
READ MORE: Barbados Storm Dorian sparks flight cancellations and airport closures
Locals have been warned to not use their vehicles as more bad weather was expected.
The Antequera and Guadalteba regions of Spain are also on alert for more rain to come.
Campillos was badly hit by flooding last October and the Mayor, Francisco Guerrero said he understood residents were very worried.
He said: ”But for now, there are no reasons for concern.”
“A large hail, gusty winds, even reports of a tornado. Madrid certainly got a battering from a nasty hail storm and some flash flooding as well in the last day or so.”
The BBC Weather forecaster claimed conditions in the Spanish capital would settle, with “unbroken sunshine” and temperatures in the 30C’s for the rest of the week.
It comes after a huge hail storm system smashed into Madrid, triggering flash flooding.
Additional reporting by Rita Sobot.