After sweltering, like much of Europe, under a heat wave for most of the week, Barcelona woke this morning to grey skies. Around 12pm, the clouds let loose their load, lashing litres of water down on the city, and broader areas of Catalonia. Roads flooded within minutes:
El Paral•lel ara mateix, em diuen... #pluja pic.twitter.com/tmqN02xiOf
— M.D.R. Doncel (@m_doncel) July 27, 2019
This is not Venetia, this is Balmes Street in Barcelona today! 😱😱. #barcelona #thebarcelonist #bcn #barna #rain #lluvia #pluja #barceloona #barcelonamagrada #summer #estiu #verano pic.twitter.com/NNRFO8lb5U
— Miguel Daquinta (@mdaqsan) July 27, 2019
Swimming pools you'd expect to normally packed on a summer Saturday were abandoned. This Twitter user jokes of "light rain at Montjuïc":
Pluja lleugera a Montjuïc. pic.twitter.com/rgAjSqWUJF
— Jordi Pi (@idrox_pi) July 27, 2019
Market stall owners faced serious problems, for example in Esplugues del Llobregat:
Saturday storm at my childhood market! #Esplugues #Tormenta #storm #pluja #lluvia #Barcelona pic.twitter.com/eiRfOXz1H9
— Marian Vidal-Fernandez (@MVidalfdez) July 27, 2019
As for drivers, it wasn't just flooded roads causing them problems, as the following tweet notes, "when your windscreen wipers are completely useless in the face of powerful nature...":
Quan els parabrises són del tot inservibles davant la natura poderosa... #Cardedeu #Pluja pic.twitter.com/F3LyK4N3Nq
— Josep Piqué (@joseppique) July 27, 2019
Along with the rain came fierce winds, as seen in the following video from Sant Cugat:
Sant cugat ara mateix! S’acaba el món 😱 #meteocat @TomasMolinaB pic.twitter.com/xMMQSm3xC6
— Anna Rigol (@anna_rigol) July 17, 2019