At least 95 people dead after torrential rain and flash flooding in Spain

At least 95 people have died in eastern, central and southern Spain after torrential rains triggered the country's deadliest floods in three decades, unleashing torrents of muddy water that surged through cities, towns and villages, trapping people in their homes, bringing down trees, and cutting off roads and railway lines.

- Sam Jones

As the search for dozens of missing people continued, motorists were urged to stay off the roads and away from swollen rivers amid warnings that the severe weather was not over and the number of deaths could rise.

By yesterday afternoon, the Valencian government's emergency coordination centre said the latest number of known deaths in the region was 92. In the neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha region two deaths were reported, including that of an 88-year-old woman in the city of Cuenca, while one was reported in Andalucia's Malaga province.

A 71-year-old British man who was rescued from his home in Malaga has died in hospital. The man, who had been rescued on the outskirts of Alhaurin de la Torre, had been suffering from hypothermia and died after several cardiac arrests.

The Valencian authorities urged people to keep clear of flooded or cut-off roads, saying the emergency services needed access and that more flood water could accumulate. More than 1,000 soldiers from Spain's emergency response units were deployed to the devastated areas, and the defence ministry offered mobile morgues if needed.

Images on Spanish TV showed turbulent, muddy water coursing through the town of Letur in the eastern province of Albacete on Tuesday, dragging cars through its streets. "Yesterday was the worst day of my life," Ricardo Gabaldon, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told the national broadcaster RTVE. He said several people were missing in his town.