At least 13 people died in Spain due to floods in some parts of the country.

Heavy rains flooded roads and towns on Tuesday, causing vehicles to drift through streets, derail a train and damage homes and buildings.

Authorities in the hardest-hit areas advised people to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel.

Police said at least 13 people died in floods affecting the southeast, according to state broadcaster TVE Spain.

Among those killed in the Valencia region, four children and six people were missing.

Hours earlier, the leader of the Valencia region had told reporters that bodies had been found but did not give a number “out of respect for the families”.

Earlier, the national government office of the Castilla La Mancha region told the Cadena Ser radio channel that six people were missing in the region.

In Letur, near Sierra de Segura, 30 people were trapped after the river flowing through the town overflowed.

Dozens of videos shared on social media show people stranded in flood waters, many holding on to trees to avoid being swept away. Authorities used helicopters to rescue some residents from their homes.

Other videos shared by Spanish broadcasters show flood waters rising to the lower floors of houses and even carrying cars along the street.

Radio and TV stations received hundreds of calls for help from people stranded in flooded areas or looking for loved ones, as emergency services were unable to reach all affected areas.

‘It was chaos’

A British couple told Sky News they had been trapped in their car for almost 10 hours.

While Vitalij Farafonov and his wife were visiting Valencia for a yoga holiday, they were removed from the highway by the police at around 20:00 yesterday evening.

He said: “It was complete mayhem as we counted nine or 10 trucks overturned on a half-mile stretch of the motorway.

“We’ve never seen anything like it.”

The couple, who are originally from the Midlands but now live in Luxembourg, have four children who are safe with relatives in Barcelona.

Mr Farafonov said he and his wife were “stuck on a random rural road between beautiful orange groves”.

“We can finally see flashing blue lights so people know where we are,” he added. “Like I said, we’re lucky.”

Transportation was seriously affected due to the flood.

A high-speed train with about 300 people on board derailed near Malaga, but authorities said no one was injured.

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Rail lines elsewhere were also disrupted.

The storms are expected to continue through Thursday, according to the country’s weather service.

Spain has also experienced similar autumn storms in recent years.

An increase in extreme weather events such as floods or wildfires seen elsewhere in Europe during the summer months is likely linked to human-caused climate change, scientists have warned.

Meteorologists believe that the warming of the Mediterranean Sea, which increases the evaporation of water, plays an important role in making showers more intense.