Warning issued to UK tourists and expats aged over 70 who are in Spain

Almost half of Valencia’s flood victims were aged over 70, figures show. Almost half of the 216 people known to have died in the catastrophic floods that hit the eastern Spanish region of Valencia at the end of October were 70 or above, according to a police analysis.

131 of the victims were male, 85 were female and 104 were aged over 70, including 15 aged over 90. The October 29 disaster marked the country's deadliest floods in decades. A total of 224 people were killed nationwide, with 216 of them in Valencia.

The Valencia victims included 190 Spaniards, nine Romanians, four Moroccans, four Chinese and two Britons, regional legal authorities said in a statement. One citizen each from Ecuador, Venezuela, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Colombia and Paraguay were also among the fatalities, they added.

READ MORE: Older drivers warned they must keep item on them 'every time you drive'

READ MORE: All cruise ship passengers warned about visiting Barcelona

READ MORE New UK flour law for Aldi, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Lidl

Victims aged 70 or older represented 104 of the dead in Valencia. Spain's population is ageing and the surging waters caught care home residents off guard, including in the hard-hit town of Paiporta. Male victims were more numerous, with 131 men dying compared with 85 women.

Andalusia’s regional head, Juan Moreno, of the conservative Popular Party (PP) said the Guadiaro River was just six centimetres away from overflowing. He cautioned that “normal conditions are not in place,” despite the downgraded weather warnings.

"We continue to monitor [the storm's] progress in all provinces. Caution until the end," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. While Aemet removed all red alerts on Thursday as the storm system moved west, orange alerts remain for western Andalusia, including the popular city of Seville, where up to 30 mm of rain is expected.

“Red warnings have been deactivated in the provinces of Malaga and Valencia,” Aemet said in a statement on Thursday morning. It continued: “Orange warnings (significant danger) remain active due to very heavy rain in areas of the provinces of Huelva, Cadiz, Seville, Alicante and Valencia.”