The famous Costa del Sol including the tourist resorts of Marbella and Estepona has faced the brunt of the extreme weather phenomenon known as a DANA, a cold drop which was the cause of the catastrophic flash floods which killed more than 200 people in and around the east coast city of Valencia alone.

The swollen Benamargosa river in the region of Malaga swept dozens of cars away on Wednesday as heavy rain caused havoc in southern and eastern Spain. Emergency services in Malaga have moved 3,000 people from homes at high risk of flooding near the Guadalhorce River west of the city,

While the red alert was lifted on Thursday morning, severe warnings for up to 100mm remained in place after a night in which dozens of emergency callouts were reported, mostly in areas worst-hit by the previous floods, which killed more than 200 people and destroyed homes.

New storms in Spain have caused school closures and train cancellations two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other areas killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes

Coastal areas of Valencia were placed under the highest alert on Wednesday evening, with up to 7 inches of rain in the forecast.

Spain's traumatised Valencia region woke up unscathed after an overnight rain alert on Thursday, two weeks after the country's deadliest floods in decades killed more than 200 people there.