The popular Spanish holiday destination of Malaga was unexpectedly transformed into a winter landscape after a sudden and unseasonable storm. Parts of the region were blanketed in hail and snow as wild weather swept across Spain, impacting the normally sunny locale.
Dramatic images and video footage circulating online illustrate the impact of the severe weather, showing streets inundated with floodwater and large hailstones falling from overcast skies.
Malaga Area Hit by Freak Winter Storm Bringing Hail and Snow
Hailstorm in Alhaurín el Grande
On Tuesday afternoon, significant hailstorms struck the town of Alhaurín el Grande. Eyewitness accounts and visuals confirmed large hailstones impacting vehicles and leaving roadways covered in a layer of icy white pellets.
Affected Areas and Weather Alerts
The intense hail also affected other regions such as Campanillas, Puerto de la Torre, and Teatinos. This extreme weather event occurred after Spain’s national meteorological agency, Aemet, had issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall and hail earlier in the day, anticipating severe conditions.
Over the weekend, the Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Malaga and its surroundings experienced a wintry transformation. An unusual winter storm, named Martinho, swept through the typically sunny area, leaving frosty conditions.
Torcal de Antequera, a well-known tourist attraction, also encountered substantial snowfall, creating spectacular vistas.
‘If you appreciate the enchantment of nature in its purest form, now is the ideal time to visit. Don’t miss this opportunity!’, TorcalAntequera posted on X, highlighting the rare occurrence for visitors.
The snow-covered mountain ranges are even visible from Malaga Airport, stunning both tourists and residents with the uncharacteristic weather.
Large hail also fell in areas such as Campanillas, Puerto de la Torre and Teatinos after Spain ‘s national weather agency Aemet had extended a yellow warning for heavy rain and hail.
Roads turned into rivers after heavy rainfall fell in Malaga
Over the weekend, the Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Malaga, and the surrounding areas, were left frosty-tipped after freak winter Storm Martinho swept over the usually-sunny location
The streets of Alhaurin el Grande, a town in Malaga, disappeared under a white blanket after initial rain turned roads into fast-flowing rivers of water
Large hail also fell in areas such as Campanillas, Puerto de la Torre and Teatinos after Spain ‘s national weather agency Aemet had extended a yellow warning for heavy rain and hail on Tuesday
The Spanish national park was covered in a blanket of snow in the rare weather phenomenon
Further west, Sierra Bermeja, located behind Estepona, also experienced considerable snowfall, creating additional winter scenery.
Recent Extreme Weather Across Spain
This event is part of a series of unusual weather conditions affecting Spain this month. Recent weeks have seen severe flooding transform streets into rivers and intense storms deliver torrential rain to popular holiday destinations in eastern Spain.
Torrential rainfall brought over 60 litres of water per square meter to the Murcia province last Tuesday, and weather forecasters have cautioned that more rain is expected.
Online video footage captured scenes of vehicles being swept away by rapid flash floods, which inundated shopping centres, buildings, and entire streets with muddy water.
The Spanish meteorological agency, Aemet, issued yellow-level warnings for the Murcia region the previous week, as Storm Laurence brought intense rainfall, measuring 15 to 22mm per hour.
Orange-level warnings were activated for the southwest and Mar Menor region, with predictions of up to 30mm of rainfall per hour in these areas.
During last Tuesday’s intense weather, emergency services responded to at least 65 incidents in Águilas, a seaport municipality on Murcia’s Mediterranean coast.
In Águilas, rescue crews successfully saved nine individuals trapped in their vehicles within a ravine. Additionally, several boat occupants were assisted to safety in the same vicinity.
This recent episode of severe weather occurred just days after a tornado struck Alicante, approximately 50 miles from Murcia, causing damage to a British family’s property.
Water is discharged from the Casasola dam in Almogia, Malaga as the reservoir reaches its limit on March 18, 2025 after heavy overnight rains fell on the province
Members of the Civil Guard Special Underwater Activities Group (GEAS) rescue a dog from the flood waters in Cartama, Malaga on March 18, 2025
Locals take part in the cleaning works after flooding in Campanillas, Malaga on March 18
Tornado Damage in Alicante
Surveillance camera footage recorded the moment a powerful tornado devastated Cathy and Adrien Branders’ home in Torremendo, Alicante, on March 13.
Eyewitnesses reported that the tornado appeared suddenly during the height of Storm Konrad the previous week, causing significant damage to the expats’ residence in a mere ’10 seconds’.
Fences, outdoor furniture, solar panels, and other debris were propelled around the property as the tornado made landfall.
Images shared online show a downed electrical tower and several uprooted trees as a result of the twister. The property also sustained damage to its roof and at least one wall.
Despite impacting multiple neighbourhoods, initial assessments questioned whether it was a true tornado due to perceived lack of ground contact.
However, experts later confirmed it to be a tornado. A Meteorihuela spokesperson stated: ‘Following a visual examination of the event, the vortex of condensed air and water vapor did make contact with the ground, thus confirming its classification as a tornado.’
Earlier Flooding on Gran Canaria
Earlier in the month, vehicles were swept into the sea after extensive flooding affected a Spanish island. Authorities issued warnings for tourists to remain indoors.
Intense rainfall caused streets in Gran Canaria to transform into fast-flowing rivers as water levels surged.
Emergency services were on ‘high alert’ and authorities warned people to avoid unnecessary travel
A car is caught up in the swell before it is flushed down the road and out of view on the streets of Gran Canaria
A car was swept away by the rain in the Las Bachilleras ravine, in Telde
Streets were covered in mud and debris as torrential rain battered the popular holiday island.
Dark, sediment-filled water flowed powerfully through the archipelago, dragging vehicles under bridges and towards the ocean.
Dramatic video posted online showed a woman being rescued from a submerged vehicle and pulled to safety as brown floodwater rapidly moved down a street.
One video captured a vehicle being rapidly carried tens of metres into the sea due to the heavy rainfall.
Another video showed a vehicle caught in the surge before being washed down the road and out of sight.
A state of ‘pre-alert’ was declared by authorities across the Canary Islands on Saturday, March 1, after torrential rain impacted the archipelago the preceding weekend.