Spain floods: Before and after images show devastating impact

Spain has been coming to terms with devastating floods which have left more than 200 people dead and dozens missing this week.

Thousands of emergency services staff and military personnel have been working on search and rescue operations in flood-hit regions, while locals have started to clean-up and assess the level of damage caused.

More rain is expected over the weekend, with a rain warning in place along the coastline of Huelva in the south-west, where residents are being told to stay at home.

Before and after images show the scale of damage the flash flooding and torrential rain caused, as it swept away buildings, piled up debris in streets and railways, and destroyed bridges.

Cars were swept onto streets, train tracks and tunnels across Valencia, the worst-hit region.

A large number of those killed were on the roads, in many cases returning from work when the flash floods struck.

The above tunnel, which connects the Benetusser and Alfafar municipalities in Valencia, was blocked by a large number of cars dragged by the water.

Parts of Valencia, the country’s third-largest city, had a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours on Wednesday.

Dozens of metres of train tracks have been damaged or completely destroyed, with rail services suspended between Madrid and Valencia while tracks are rebuilt.

Some streets and residential areas were wrecked as a result of flash-flooding, such as this one in Letur, southwest of Valencia. The street is wholly covered by mud, rocks and debris.

Satellite images give an idea of how violently the water burst into coastal towns, and show just how much the landscape has changed in the last few days.