Spain's Catalonia on highest alert over heavy rains

Madrid (AFP)

Train service was suspended in Catalonia on Saturday, as much of the Spanish region was placed on high alert over possible torrential rains, officials said.

Spain's weather service Aemet said that 90 millimetres of rain could fall in the space of an hour later on Saturday near Barcelona and the Tarragon region.

Calling the situation "extraordinary" and putting much of the region on red alert, the weather service warned that torrential rains could cause flooding and urged residents to follow authorities' instructions.

Spain's Renfe train company suspended service throughout Catalonia as a precaution.

Last October, torrential rains sparked devastating floods in the eastern province of Valencia, killing 225 people and causing widespread destruction in the country's deadliest such disaster in decades.