Alicante: Freak ‘meteotsunami’ flood washes out streets of Spanish holiday destination

Santa Pola is near Alicante, a popular Spanish resort

A Spanish resort popular with British tourists flooded because of an unusual climate-linked weather phenomenon.

The beach promenades and streets in Guardamar del Segura and Santa Pola in the south-east of Spain were flooded on Tuesday night (August 10), reports AlicanteToday.com

It was caused by a ‘meteotsunami’, known locally as a ‘rissaga’, a rare event caused by a sudden change in atmospheric pressure that makes the tide quickly recede before a large tsunami-like wave floods back into the coast.

According to the Climatology department of the University of Alicante, this phenomenon typically occurs in the Balearic Islands, but has been known to happen on the Costa Blanca.

The deluge was caused by a ‘meteotsunami’ ( Policía Local Santa Pola)

Santa Pola police posted: “An unexpected weather phenomenon surprised us tonight, with a sudden tide rise that has caused a lot of problems to the tied fishing fleet, causing several drifting boats.

“It has caused coastal damage, so we beg for patience while services perform tasks to mitigate the consequences.”

Southern Europe is undergoing a heatwave with catastrophic consequences. Wildfires and floods have swept Greece, Turkey, and Italy.

Yesterday a city in Sicily recorded Europe’s hottest-ever temperature, meteorologists said.

Syracuse, located on the island’s south-east coast, saw the mercury rise to 48.8C on Wednesday, according to the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing data from Sicily’s Agrometeorological Information System (SIAS).

If this temperature is confirmed, it will beat the previous European high of 48.0C, seen in Athens in 1977. Although this long-standing record is accepted by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), it is disputed by some climatologists and meteorologists.