Snow covered streets and trapped cars

Northeastern Spain saw a strong force on Wednesday storms. Footage from the municipality of St. Hillary-Sacalm shows a car trapped in the street by large chunks of snow accumulated after a severe hailstorm.

There was also heavy rain. Many streets were flooded. Officials said floods submerged some homes.

Heavy rains earlier in the week led to flash floods along the southeastern coast of the country. Many buildings were flooded, cars were flooded, and local authorities had to close kindergartens and schools.

The national weather agency AEMET said the latest downpours hit Spain after the start of the driest year since records were set. The first four months recorded less than half the average rainfall for that period. Catalonia is one of the regions with the most difficult drought situation.

And agency spokesman Ruben Del Campo noted that this spring is on track to be the driest since 1961, when such observations began. April is the warmest on record.