The Spanish holiday hotspot of Malaga turned white after a freak winter storm covered parts of the region in a blanket of hail and snow amid a spell of wild weather in the country.
Striking images and footage emerging show streets submerged in floodwater and heavy hail crashing down from grey skies.
On Tuesday afternoon, giant hailstorms were seen hitting cars and leaving the roads covered in white icy rocks in the town of Alhaurín el Grande.
Large hail also fell in areas such as Campanillas, Puerto de la Torre and Teatinos after Spain‘s national weather agency Aemet had extended a yellow warning for heavy rain and hail on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, the Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Malaga, and the surrounding areas, were left frosty-tipped after freak winter Storm Martinho swept over the usually-sunny location.
Torcal de Antequera, a popular tourist destination, also experienced the heavy snowfall, which made for spectacular scenes.
‘If you like the magic of nature in its purest form, this is the perfect time to visit. Don’t miss it!,’ TorcalAntequera wrote in a post on X, taking advantage of the rare occurrence.
The snow-capped mountains are even visible from Malaga Airport, and have left holidaymakers and locals stunned by the weather.
Large hail also fell in areas such as Campanillas, Puerto de la Torre and Teatinos after Spain ‘s national weather agency Aemet had extended a yellow warning for heavy rain and hail.
Roads turned into rivers after heavy rainfall fell in Malaga
Over the weekend, the Sierra de las Nieves National Park in Malaga, and the surrounding areas, were left frosty-tipped after freak winter Storm Martinho swept over the usually-sunny location
The streets of Alhaurin el Grande, a town in Malaga, disappeared under a white blanket after initial rain turned roads into fast-flowing rivers of water
Large hail also fell in areas such as Campanillas, Puerto de la Torre and Teatinos after Spain ‘s national weather agency Aemet had extended a yellow warning for heavy rain and hail on Tuesday
The Spanish national park was covered in a blanket of snow in the rare weather phenomenon
Further west, Sierra Bermeja, behind Estepona, has also witnessed significant snowfall, offering more Winter Wonderland scenes.
It comes as Spain has been experiencing a wave of freak weather this month, with raging floods turning streets into rivers and ferocious storms bringing downpours of heavy rain to popular holiday hotspots across eastern parts of the country just a week ago.
Torrential rainfall brought more than 60 litres of water per square meter to the Murcia province last Tuesday, as forecasters warned that more rain is still to come.
Video shared online shows how cars being swept away in flash floods that have left shopping centres, city buildings and entire streets filled with murky water.
Spanish meteorological agency Aemet issued yellow-level alerts for the Murcia region last week as Storm Laurence pummeled the area with 15 to 22mm of rain per hour.
Orange-level alerts were in affect for the southwest and Mar Menor region, with forecasters warning the area could see up to 30mm of rainfall per hour.
Emergency crews responded to at least 65 incidents in the seaport municipality of Águilas, located on Murcia’s Mediterranean coastline, last Tuesday due to the extreme weather.
Crews in Águilas rescued nine people who were trapped inside their cars in a ravine. The occupants of several boats were also helped to safety in the same area.
This recent bout of horrifying weather came just days after a tornado ripped through Alicante, roughly 50 miles from Murcia, and damaged a British family’s overseas home.
Water is discharged from the Casasola dam in Almogia, Malaga as the reservoir reaches its limit on March 18, 2025 after heavy overnight rains fell on the province
Members of the Civil Guard Special Underwater Activities Group (GEAS) rescue a dog from the flood waters in Cartama, Malaga on March 18, 2025
Locals take part in the cleaning works after flooding in Campanillas, Malaga on March 18
Surveillance camera footage captured the moment a wicked twister tore apart Cathy and Adrien Branders’ home in Torremendo, Alicante on March 13.
Witnesses said the tornado suddenly appeared out of nowhere during the height of Storm Konrad last week and ‘within 10 seconds’ had cause extensive damage to the expats’ home.
Fences, chairs, solar panels and other debris were flung around the property as the tornado touched down.
Photos shared online show that an electrical tower and several trees were torn down by the twister, which also caused damage to the property’s roof and at least one wall.
Although the twister ripped through multiple neighbourhoods, it was initially declared not to be a tornado due to its lack of contact with the ground.
But experts soon confirmed that it was in fact a tornado. A Meteorihuela spokesperson said: ‘After a visual assessment of the incident, the vortex of condensed air and water vapor has touched land, and therefore it is believed to be a tornado.’
At the beginning of the month, cars were washed out to sea after massive floods hit a Spanish island with authorities warning tourists to stay indoors.
Heavy rainfall saw the streets of Gran Canaria become raging rivers as water levels rise.
Emergency services were on ‘high alert’ and authorities warned people to avoid unnecessary travel
A car is caught up in the swell before it is flushed down the road and out of view on the streets of Gran Canaria
A car was swept away by the rain in the Las Bachilleras ravine, in Telde
Piles of mud and dirt covered the streets as torrential rain battered the popular holiday island.
Brown water aggressively streamed through the archipelago with cars dragged under bridges and into the sea.
Dramatic footage posted online showed a woman being rescued from a submerged car and dragged to safety as soil-coloured water rapidly moved down the street.
One video showed a car being rapidly swept tens of metres into the sea as strong rain hits the island.
In another clip, a car was left caught up in the swell before it was flushed down the road and out of view.
A state of ‘pre-alert’ was issued by authorities across the Canary Islands on Saturday, March 1 after torrential rain hit the archipelago the previous weekend.
