Railway officials said trains carrying about 800 passengers were immobilized for up to several hours in Castellon and other provinces because of power outages caused by the storm.

Lighting damaged a railway catenary near the coastal resort of Benicassim, the officials said, and trees, earth and rocks had to be removed from the Terrassa to Manresa line in Catalonia.

Suburban rail services around Barcelona also were disrupted.

Fire officials said the rains caused considerable damage to houses in the region. Firefighters were called out to pump out flooded basements and remove fallen trees from roads.

Several dozen cars were damaged in a hail storm at Alcaniz in the province of Teruel.

Heavy rainfalls also were recorded in the Basque country and Asturias in the northwest of Spain.

The storms followed a drop in temperature after a two-week heatwave. The National Meteorological Institute said temperatures would rise again after Monday.

TERRA.WIRE