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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Rebecca Speare-Cole

Eight dead after powerful storms strike Spain and Portugal

Waves hit the jetty of the port of A Guarda, northwestern Spain, during Storm Fabien (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Two powerful storms that struck Spain and Portugal in quick succession over the past three days have killed at least eight people and caused widespread flooding and damage.

In the southern region of Andalusia, a spokesman for the emergency services said they had recovered the body of a windsurfer in the province of Huelva.

A second man died in Granada attempting to ford a swollen river in his car.

In Madrid a woman died on Saturday after being injured by a piece of falling masonry dislodged by strong winds in the city centre on Friday.

A flooded street is pictured as Storm Elsa sweeps through Trofa, in Porto, Portugal (COXPT via REUTERS)

The arrival of Storm Fabien on Saturday brought a fresh round of high winds and heavy rainfall to the region, just as Storm Elsa, which hit the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday, began to subside.

Spain's civil defense agency said the latest front could bring winds of up to 140 km per hour (85 mph) and waves of up to 9 metres (30 feet), to the country's northwest Atlantic coast.

Flooded fields are pictured in Xinzo de Limia. (AFP via Getty Images)

However, the effects of the storms have been felt across the peninsula.

On Friday a person died in a landslide in Asturias, a second was killed when a stone wall crumbled in Galicia and a third person was swept away by floodwaters in Castile and Leon, a government spokeswoman said.

A flooded street is pictured as Storm Elsa sweeps through Trofa, in Porto, Portugal. (COXPT via REUTERS)

In Portugal, one man died in Montijo, near Lisbon, on Thursday after a tree fell on his truck, and a second man was killed in Castro Daire, northern Portugal, when his house collapsed, officials said.

Portugal's civil protection authority said on Saturday the heavy rain and strong winds had felled trees and caused flooding and damage to infrastructure.

A football pitch is pictured flooded due the high water levels on Mino river in Ourense in Spain. (AFP via Getty Images)

More than 250 people were evacuated from their homes in villages in central Portugal on Saturday due to rising river waters, Portuguese news agency Lusa said.

It comes as severe flooding in the UK has brought chaos to travellers during the Christmas getaway traffic.

A tornado hit Surrey on Saturday morning damaging roofs, cars and felling trees across the county.

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