Over 100 mm of rainfall across Catalonia with transport disruptions and 2 missing

Over 100 mm of rain fell in several areas of Catalonia on Sunday, including Montserrat mountain, where some hikers were due to be evacuated.

Elsewhere, in Sant Quintí de Mediona, Central Catalonia, two people went missing and emergency services began a search and rescue mission in the evening. Their vehicle had been swept by water.

Indeed, Central Catalonia, with counties such as Bages, Anoia, and also Baix Llobregat, in the Barcelona metropolitan area, were some of the regions especially affected by the rain.

Some roads such as C-58 in Terrassa were disrupted due to some floods in the evening, and some commuter lines were delayed: R2Sud, R14, R15, R16 and R17, all of them in the south of Catalonia. R5 of FGC train service was momentarily cut because a tree fell off the tracks.

Several flights due to depart from or land to Barcelona airport were delayed, and some departs canceled because of the severe weather.

While authorities said earlier on Sunday that the rain situation would ease at around 8pm, in the evening they called on the public for caution until early Monday.

The heavy rain expected in Catalonia on Sunday began in the morning with showers especially intense in the Pyrenees, but authorities anticipated more severe weather across the country throughout the day, prompting Civil Protection to call for "caution" to the public.

Areas near rivers and roads such as AP-7 highway are especially concerning, considering the typical traffic jam on Sundays, with hundreds of thousands of drivers returning to the Barcelona area after a weekend away.

Indeed, Civil Protection is especially concerned about AP-7 in the two Vallès counties, that is, in the areas with Terrassa, Sabadell and Granollers as main towns.

Usually, extra lines are opened on Sundays to ease potential traffic jams, but this will not be possible this Sunday due to the rain.

The Girona counties and the Ebre river delta region are also areas where very heavy rain is expected.

Civil Protection recommends caution when using AP-7 and limiting outdoor activities, especially near rivers –Besòs and Llobregat rivers among others could see sudden rises.

Storms across Catalonia

In the morning, several towns in the western Pyrenean counties such as Pallars Sobirà, Pallars Jussà and Alt Urgell registered 30 to 50 mm of rainfall with considerable lightning activity.

Catalonia's weather service (Meteocat) expected intense storms in the western Pyrenees and the Tarragona interior counties between 8am and the early afternoon, when showers would move to the Girona area, central Catalonia and Barcelona's metropolitan area until 8pm.