The number of people killed by the floods has risen to from 205 to 207, according to interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

He told Spanish radio station Cadena SER: “It is reasonable to think that we will have more deaths.”

But he said he could not accurately predict how many people were missing.

Emergency services have received calls from the relatives of 1,900 people that cannot be found, he said, but “that is mostly due to communication failures”.

“In addition, people who finally find their relatives do not report it.”

On the arrest of 39 people for looting, he said: “I am concerned about theft, but we have increased security, especially in commercial areas. 

“What does concern me are the values ​​of a society that acts like this at the moment.”

42 litres of rain deluged town in 10 minutes

As experts crunch the rainfall data, new records are emerging.

Some 42 litres of rain per square metre fell in just 10 minutes in a Valencian town at the height of the storm.

That’s the equivalent of 1.7 inches of water.

It was part of a record 179.2 litres per square metre (7.1 inches) in one hour in Turis, El Mundo cited the State Meteorological Agency as saying.

This broke the last record set in 2018: 159 litres in Vinaros.

Over the whole of Tuesday, Turis accumulated 618 litres per square metre – or 24 inches (two foot).