Travel alert issued as floods hit Lanzarote

Extreme flooding in Lanzarote has triggered a pre-Easter weekend travel alert.

Some hotels were left without power as services across the island were affected.

A state of emergency declared on Saturday was lifted after 24 hours.

However, the Foreign Office pointed to heavy rainfall and flooding “particularly” affecting Costa Teguise, San Bartolomé and Arrecife. 

“Services across the island are affected,” the updated travel advice said. 

“Some hotels are currently without power. Some roads are currently affected by mud. 

“If you are in Lanzarote or travelling to Lanzarote, follow the advice of the local authorities and monitor local weather updates.”

Emergency services were called to 152 incidents in Costa Teguise on Saturday evening, and a further 70 in Arrecife, according to local media reports.

The torrential rain came as a result of Storm Oliver, which swept over the Canaries, mainland Spain and Portugal, triggering several weather alerts.

Spain’s meteorological service issued weather warnings for many areas of the country from Sunday to Tuesday - including storms in the northeast, rain in the Balearic islands and wind in parts of both the north and south coast. 

Two flights from Manchester, two from Gatwick, two from Bristol and others from Cardiff, Stansted, Birmingham, Bournemouth and Dublin had to be diverted to Fuerteventura due to low visibility prior to the weekend, local Canary Islands media reported.

Lanzarote attracted 3.4 million tourists last year, including 1.7 million from the UK.