Storm Adam brings torrential rain to Valencia, Alicante and Balearic Islands, as Storm Austen strikes England and Wales

Storm Adam brought torrential rain to eastern Spain earlier this week. In Pego, Alicante, 632mm fell in 36 hours, with 430mm of this falling in just six hours, while the Valencian town of Oliva received 600mm in 24 hours.

The severe flooding led 145 municipalities across Valencia and Alicante to impose a temporary lockdown on about 850,000 people on Monday. At least five people have died, 500 have been rescued and 2,100 evacuated.

People succumbed to heat at highest rates in Malta, Italy and Hungary, with health issues, loneliness and poverty exacerbating toll

Heat killed a record 50,000 people in European cities this summer, new research suggests, with scientists blaming climate breakdown for two in every three of the deaths.

Morgues and funeral homes filled with bodies from June to August as the heat added by planet-baking pollution cut short an extra 32,000 lives in urban areas, the researchers found. Hot days pushed vulnerable bodies into overdrive and warm nights prevented them from recovering.

Helicopters rescued people stranded on rooftops as torrential rain swept across eastern Spain on Monday. Floods and storms killed at least four people, and shelter-in-place orders remained in force for more than 80,000 people. The downpour from Storm Adam cut off several towns along the Mediterranean coast as rivers overflowed their banks and streets turned into rivers. More than 2,000 people were evacuated, mainly in Oliva, and authorities carried out nearly 496 rescues in Valencia and Alicante, the Civil Guard police said