Horror moment meteo tsunami wipes out entire tourist spot on popular Spanish island

Footage has captured the hair-raising moment a meteo-tsunami wiped out a beachfront on the Spanish island of Menorca. All the paraphernalia by the sea including the sun loungers, towels, cushions and parasols can be seen being washed away by the strong rush of water as customers flee the scene. 

The incident occurred in the port of Ciutadella on Wednesday as beachgoers enjoyed their time relaxing by the coastline. Earlier this week, rain warnings were issued by weather forecaster Aemet which remained in place until 8am on Thursday morning.

Its onslaught has seen flash flooding while much of Europe suffers through a blistering and deadly heatwave. Speaking to Express.co.uk about the incident, weather expert Jim Dale explained why Menorca and different parts of Spain were experiencing such contrasting weather conditions.

The climate spokesman explained that meteo-tsunamis were unlike other types of weather phenomena.

He said: “It’s a weather-orientated event which means it’s almost like a fast-moving mix of air streams where pressure will fall quite rapidly, depresses it and causes large waves. It is a rapid fall off of air pressure and it’s causing the sea to well up. 

“Normally caused by an unstable area of low pressure which continues to go increasingly unstable and causes a rapid drop in air pressure.” Mr Dale said while this weather front “enveloped the whole of the Balearics”, other areas were mostly hit with massive thunderstorms.

On why the Balearic Islands had rain and other parts of Spain endured sweltering 40C heat, Mr Dale said it was the contrast between the two that was causing the issues. He added: “It’s the difference between the two.

“On one hand you have blistering heat and on the other unstable low pressure. It’s that mixing between the two which causes increased instability which causes these weather phenomena to occur.”

This may not be the last time locals and tourists witness a meteo-tsunami either, but Mr Dale cautioned that people shouldn’t “panic”. He added: “What we’re talking about here is a relatively rare event.

“What sets things off is this increased energy, increased sea surface temperatures, that is a provider of energy into the atmosphere which potentially makes these things more likely to reoccur.

“The background reason is increased energy in the ocean which causes them to fire them off which ties in with increased turbulence in the atmosphere.”

Mr Dale’s comments come as other parts of Spain and the rest of Europe see scorching temperatures that have sent the mercury above 40C. In Athens, the capital of Greece, temperatures reached as high as 45C.

What’s more, other holiday hot spots such as Crete and the Peloponnese peninsula have seen temperatures rise to 44C.

Alongside the heat, wildfires are breaking out on increasingly dry ground making it very difficult for local firefighters to put them out before they put property and people at risk.

In a statement, Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s minister for civil protection, said: “The early start of the heat waves, combined with the dry winter, has led to a very difficult fire season. 

“Almost every 10 minutes a new fire breaks out. Even the smallest fire can rapidly turn into a fiery front.”