Five Spanish regions under amber alert for heavy rain and storms

Specifically, the amber-level rain warnings are in force in the provinces of Teruel, Mallorca, Cuenca, Lleida, Tarragona, Alicante, Castellón and Valencia. In Galicia, Aemet (the state meteorological agency) has issued a warning for high waves.

Aemet has also issued rain warnings in Almeria, Granada and Jaén (Andalucía); Huesca and Zaragoza (Aragon); Menorca (the Balearic Islands); Albacete and Guadalajara (Castilla-La Mancha); Barcelona and Girona (Catalonia); the Murcia Plateau, north-western Murcia and the Vega del Segura (Murcia); and the Cantabrian slopes of Navarre and the Pyrenees (Navarre).

In addition, yellow storm warnings are in place for Almeria, Granada and Jaén; Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza; Mallorca and Menorca; Albacete, Cuenca and Guadalajara; Barcelona, Girona and Lleida; the Murcia Plateau, north-western Murcia and the Vega del Segura; and Alicante, Castellón and Valencia.

According to Aemet's forecast, the Atlantic front over mainland Spain on Thursday will continue to bring very cloudy skies and rainfall to the north of the country on Friday.

By region, rain will fall during the first half of the day on the Cantabrian coast and in the north-east during the second half. Furthermore, a mass of cold air at high altitude and a moist airflow from the Mediterranean will create very unstable conditions in the east and north-east.

Across the rest of the mainland and the Balearic Islands, there will be plenty of medium and high clouds and the possibility of isolated showers cannot be ruled out almost anywhere. In the afternoon, the eastern parts of the interior can expect developing clouds, which may lead to thunderstorms and showers. These may be very heavy at times, spreading towards the centre of the country by the end of the day.

According to the forecast, the storms will move towards the coast in the provinces of Valencia, Castellón, the south of Tarragona and the north of Alicante. In these areas, they may bring occasional torrential downpours and very significant rainfall.

Apart from this, the skies are likely to be cloudy in the north of the Canary Islands, with partly cloudy or clear skies in the south, while there will be mist and patches of fog in the south-east, the Balearic Islands, the Alboran Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar and the high-altitude areas of the far north.

As far as temperatures are concerned, Aemet has warned that there will be a drop in maximum temperatures in the far north, which may be particularly noticeable in the eastern Cantabrian region. Meanwhile, there will be isolated rises in the centre and little change in the rest of the mainland and the Balearic Islands.

There will also be a fall in minimum temperatures in the north-western half, with little change elsewhere on the mainland and in the Balearic Islands.

For Friday, Aemet has forecast moderate winds along the coasts: from the north and north-west on the Atlantic coasts and from the east on the Mediterranean coasts and the Balearic Islands, while only light, variable winds are expected in the Alborán Sea.

In the interior, there will be light, variable winds with occasional moderate gusts, predominantly from the east on the eastern side of the mainland. In the Canary Islands, there will be moderate trade winds.

Today's weather forecast for Malaga province