Holiday paradise Lanzarote in Spain hit by violent flooding

Staggering footage shows a holiday island being swamped by flooding, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency.

Staggering footage shows holiday hotspot Lanzarote in Spain swamped by violent flooding after a torrential two-hour dump of rain.

Homes and roads were overcome by the surging floodwater on Saturday afternoon, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency.

Clips uploaded to social media show roads and carparks turned into deep, fast-flowing rivers.

Cars lie stranded in the streets which are impossible to navigate.

Huge swathes of the land are also submerged under brown water as it gushes down towards the coast, The Sun reported.

A storm broke out early Saturday afternoon, unloading a deluge of rainfall onto the island.

The ground very quickly became waterlogged so the water could not soak away.

Instead, it rose higher and higher and poured through channels towards the sea.

The city of Arrecife, on the island’s south coast, was hit particularly hard by the extreme weather.

Residents were greeted by the smell of raw sewage after flooding overwhelmed the drainage system.

The city of Arrecife (pictured) was one of the worst-hit areas. Picture: X

The towns of Tahiche, Costa Teguise, Guatiza and Nazaret were also badly affected.

Rivers became raging torrents and burst their banks, unable to deal with the sheer volume of water.

The Lagomar River flowing through Nazaret spilled over onto the surrounding land.

Some 60 litres of water fell per square metre in a two hour period in the worst-affected spots.

Cars lie stranded in the middle of unpassable submerged streets. Picture: X

Firefighters respond. Picture: X

That’s more than a month’s worth of the average rainfall in the UK.

Bizarrely, other areas of the island remained completely dry.

Lanzarote’s Security Consortium activated the island’s Emergency Plan until 7am on Sunday.

Several roads in Lanzarote were completely engulfed by water following intense rainfall on Saturday. Picture: X

The public are urged to take extreme precautions and avoid all unnecessary travel.

Saturday’s downpour followed previous heavy rainfall in the week as Storm Olivier passed over the island.

Several flights to and from Lanazrote airport were cancelled or diverted on Thursday due to dangerous flying conditions.

Two flights from Manchester, two from Gatwick, two from Bristol and one from each of Cardiff, Stanstead, Birmingham and Dublin and Bournemouth were diverted.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was republished with permission.

Originally published as Holiday paradise Lanzarote in Spain hit by violent flooding