On Saturday morning weather forecasters in Spain began tracking a gota fría, a cold drop forming off the Spanish coast as the warm Mediterranean updraft was hit by cold polar air.
“Intense, extensive and persistent rainfall” was predicted.
But these words from the government’s meteorological agency, AEMET, gave little indication of the horror to come.
Six days later, more than 200 people had been confirmed dead in flash floods, a train had been derailed and in some areas a year’s worth of rainfall had fallen within hours.
This is how it happened.
At lunchtime on Saturday, October 26, the Valencia Emergency Co-ordination Centre issued a yellow warning for rain that could cause disruption to outdoor activities but “no meteorological risk for the population in