Aemet’s office in Valencia told the El Diario newspaper: “It is not possible for air and sea temperatures to be increasing and everything else to remain the same.”
This new climate reality in a country which now suffers record-breaking heatwaves in the summer is hard to live with because cold drops are so unpredictable.
Heavy rainfall does not always cause flash floods but Valencia is also vulnerable to them.
They are more likely to happen because Spanish soil, especially after the summer, can be arid and will not absorb water.
When there is sudden rainfall, such as during a cold drop, the water stays on the surface, which exacerbates the risk of flash floods.
Meanwhile, Spain’s rivers, especially in the Mediterranean basin, are short and steep with narrow floodplains.
Riverbeds and dry stream channels fill up quickly during heavy rains, which can be a threat to nearby communities.
Urbanisation of flood-prone areas has also reduced natural drainage, with soil being replaced by concrete and other building materials.
Drainage system cannot cope
Valencia’s drainage system was also not designed to handle such intense downpours.
Despite efforts to modernise the infrastructure, the region remains vulnerable to flash flooding.
Locals have also blamed poor drainage around towns for exacerbating the floods.
One told The Telegraph: “There are floods every year at this time, mainly in smaller towns near rivers. Drainage is a big problem.
“The ground is solid from the summer heat so the water runs off the mountains into rivers.
“When they overflow, the hard ground can’t soak up the excess water so it becomes a flood. If it rains three or four days in a row, there is a flood.
“The drainage system in towns doesn’t seem that good, either. In some places, you hardly see any drains in the streets.”
Concerns have also been raised about the failure to build a major reservoir – first mooted in the 1960s – that would help prevent floods in the region by easing the pressure on rivers.
The death toll and devastation of this week’s flash floods has shocked the Spanish authorities.
But far from being a tragically isolated incident, the data suggest the future will bring more disasters, more often and with more force.