• From Madonado

Stunning image of the immense power of an electrical storm in Alicante by Big Vern over on the forum, where he notes:

…we witnessed the most spectacular electrical storm I have ever seen, including those I’ve experienced in the tropics. We live in the Orba valley in the north of the Costa Blanca and this storm seemed to be out at sea; the thunder was very distant. The lightning was continuous and multiple, striking out in all directions – in fact I never saw any of the bolts go to earth. This fantastic light display continued for almost 15 minutes until the huge thunderhead cloud started to break up. Read more

And according to the AEMET 2008 has been a warm year in comparison with the 1971-2000 period, though it has been the coldest since 1996 with an average temperature of 15.0 ºC.
AEMET (pdf)

A remarkable and fortuitous month of rain in May has put an end to the drought affecting much of Spain, and in particular in Catalonia, where the much-publicised and criticised plan to transfer water from the Ebro to Barcelona is to be shelved. Overall for Spain, this has been the rainiest May since 1971, and the third wettest since 1940, with an average of 115 l/m2 across the country (1971 and 1984 recorded 124 and 115, respectively). Some areas have seen much longer records broken. For instance, Roquetas (Tarragona) has recorded the wettest May since 1880, leading to flooding along stretches of the Ebro. There has also been serious flooding in recent days further west along the Ebro Depression and in the Basque Country. Crops in some areas have been ruined. As the Spanish saying goes Nunca llueve a gusto de todos.

Reservoirs across Spain are now at 59.3% of their capacity. The reservoirs of the “internal basins” of Catalonia, which supply Barcelona, have doubled their capacity in less than two months to 53%. Various sources including El Mundo

We’ve heard another weather expression a lot in recent weeks, testament to the rains: Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo. (Until the 40th of May, don’t take your coat off)- N’er cast a clout till may be out, as they once said in English.

Update: Heavy rains have continued in some areas into June. The Guardian reported on this story and the effects of rain the Zaragoza Expo

The “aurora borealis” is a luminescent meteor, a phenomenon that frequently happens in areas close to the North Pole and which can also be seen in rather exceptional circumstances in regions of Central Europe. So the aurora borealis that could quite clearly be seen from the Pyrenees, and even from the top of the Tibidabo hill in Barcelona, on the 25th of January 1938, was an absolutely unusual occurrence. It was in fact a unique experience. There are no known accounts of any other event of that kind at such meridional latitudes. Furthermore, the phenomenon took place in the midst of war, thus causing terrible confusion and shock among the soldiers who were fighting on the Aragonese front.

From THE REPUBLICAN YEARS (www.bcn.es) by J. Fabre, J.M. Huertas and. Pradas

There have been 59 important floods in the last six centuries. This year is the 50 anniversary of 1957 flood (14/Oct), the worst in the 20th century, which caused 81 deaths, 52 of which were in the Valencian capital, as the River Turia burst its banks. 1,131,000 tonnes of mud had to be removed from the city. More from the great Alfred Picó.

But also seems that in recent years these extreme events have become more frequent because of climate change.