Severe weather causes over 40 flight cancellations on Mallorca

A severe storm in the Spanish Mediterranean region is disrupting air traffic on Mallorca.

By Wednesday afternoon, 44 flights had been cancelled at Palma airport due to weather conditions, according to the relevant authorities of the Spanish holiday island.

Authorities said 23 arrivals and 21 departures were affected. Almost all other connections experienced significant delays. The worst part of the storm was yet to come.

"The night worries me the most," the head of the emergency operations centre, Toni Plata, told journalists.

The low-pressure area brought heavy rain showers, thunderstorms, hail and gale-force winds to Mallorca and other Spanish Mediterranean areas.

Firefighters were repeatedly called out to clear fallen trees or pump water out of flooded cellars.

Initially, no major damage was reported on Mallorca or elsewhere in Spain.

The second-highest orange alert level from the national weather service AEMET was in place on Wednesday for the Balearic Islands as well as for parts of the regions of Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia and Catalonia.

For the north-east of Mallorca, the authorities issued a red alert for Thursday, which will be in effect from midnight until 3 pm (1300 GMT). Up to 180 millilitres of rainfall are expected within a few hours.

The severe weather is expected to gradually subside afterwards. However, air traffic on Mallorca is likely to be disrupted until Friday.

It is rare for the red alert level to be declared on Mallorca. However, changeable weather is common in mid-August when the usually consistent summer weather on the island typically ends. Beach days are then often interspersed with occasional severe thunderstorms.