Terrifying marine tornadoes seen off coast of popular holiday spot head of summer vacations

Footage circulating on social media has captured the moment giant waterspouts spiralled off the coast of a popular tourist spot. Southern Spain has been hit by flash floods as violent storms moved through the region head of the summer holidays . Torrential rain triggered flooding on the roads parts of Murcia. Cars could be seen floating in deep floodwater as downpours battered the area. Several marine tornadoes appeared offshore and witnesses reported seeing at least three waterspouts. The vortexes stretched from dark storm clouds down towards the Mediterranean, the Sun reported. A waterspout is a rotating column of air that forms over water. It can cause destructive wind gusts. Extreme cases can see winds of up to 250km/h. Spain’s state weather agency AEMET reiterated severe weather warnings across Campo de Cartagena and authorities issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms, warning of possible hail and powerful gusts of wind. An orange alert remained in place for torrential rain. Forecasters predicted up to 40mm of rainfall within a single hour. The conditions are part of a wider storm system hitting eastern and southern parts of the country after weeks of warm weather. Meteorologists have warned of downpours, electrical storms and quickly changing conditions across the region. This intense weather comes weeks after storms hit Spain in March, killing one person. More than 250 litres of rain per square metre were recorded in some regions and rivers surge to dangerous levels. Trains were cancelled, schools were closed and mass evacuations were carried out earlier this year after Storm Leonardo dumped more than 15 inches of rain in just 24 hours. In Portugal, Storm Leonardo also claimed a life and forced thousands more from their homes.