British man, 71, dies after being rescued from Spain floods
· BBC NewsIan Aikman
BBC News
Alex Smith
BBC News
A British man has died hours after being rescued from his home on the outskirts of Málaga, Spain, after intense flooding hit parts of the country, local officials say.
The 71-year-old - who has not been named - had been taken to hospital after the rescue, and was "suffering from hypothermia", according to the president of the Andalusian government, in southern Spain.
He died after suffering "several cardiac arrests", Juanma Moreno said.
At least 95 people have died after heavy rain and hailstorms triggered flash floods on Tuesday.
Most of these deaths - 92 - have come in the eastern city of Valencia. Two more people died in the central Castilla-La-Mancha region.
There are fears the death toll could rise in the coming days as many people remain missing across affected areas.
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are providing support to the family of a British man who has died in Málaga.”
It has updated its travel guidelines, external for Spain in light of the flooding, advising visitors from the UK to check weather warnings before they travel.
Three areas of eastern Spain were covered by red weather alerts on Thursday morning, warning of extreme or unusual weather events.
Local officials in the town of Chiva, near Valencia, said it was "impossible" to put a final figure on the number of people who have perished.
More than a year's worth of rain fell there in just eight hours on Tuesday.
Footage posted on social media from the region shows neighbourhoods destroyed and cars piled up in the street.
Meteorologists believe the extreme weather is due, in part, to the Dana phenomenon - when a pool of cold air interacts with an area of low pressure to create an intensely unstable atmospheric environment.
While studies suggest Dana events occur many times each year in the western Mediterranean, the intensity of such rainfall events appears to be increasing due to climate change.
'We felt completely helpless'
More than 1,000 troops were deployed to help with rescue efforts on Wednesday.
But many crews struggled to reach affected towns due to flooded roads and downed power lines, which have also cut off local residents from their jobs and loved ones.
Julianne Stockport volunteers at an animal sanctuary in Carlet, Valencia - an area which was badly damaged by the flooding.
The 43-year-old, who moved from the UK to Spain six years ago, has been unable to reach the shelter due to severe flooding on the roads.
"I've never known devastation like what we're seeing at the moment," she told the BBC.
Volunteers went to great lengths to prepare the shelter - which houses more than 80 dogs and cats - for the storm.
As the downpour hit, Ms Stockport received a national alert telling her to stay at her home in Gandia, so she could not make the 45-minute drive to ensure the animals, and her friend Grace who runs the shelter, were safe.
"We felt completely helpless," she said. "Later in the day we couldn't make contact at all. We were so worried about her and the animals' safety."
When the storm passed, Grace told Ms Stockport that some of the shelters' roofs were blown off but "by some miracle" all the animals were safe.
"It was like someone was watching over them," said Ms Stockport.
Rescue efforts ongoing
In a national address on Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said: “For those who are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you."
Territorial policy minister Ángel Víctor Torres said it was still unclear how many people were missing.
Work continued overnight in Valencia to clear the city's streets of piled up cars, and search for people who were unaccounted for.
The Spanish government has declared three days of national mourning from Thursday. Some disaster relief authorities are facing criticism for being too slow to issue warnings during the worst of the weather.
Additional reporting by Emma Pengelly.
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