Spain: Tornado Hits Fair As Floods Toll Rises

Ten people have been killed in flash floods in southern Spain and a British woman is missing, while dozens were hurt as a tornado ripped through a fairground.

A 52-year-old British woman is among those missing after torrential rain hit the Andalusia and Murcia regions, and hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes.

The hardest hit provinces are Malaga in the south and Almeria in the southeast.

Among the dead are seven men, two women and a 10-year-old girl who was found drowned in a car.

Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was investigating reports that the unnamed British woman has gone missing in Almeria.

In the region of Valencia, 35 people were reportedly injured after a tornado hit a fairground and flattened a Ferris wheel.

Local media said all the injured were fairground workers and 15 were seriously hurt.

The twister damaged several other rides and cut electricity in the temporary fairground set up in the town of Gandia.

The funfair was closed to the public at the time because of a thunderstorm, reports said.

On the beach at El Saler, near Valenica, two cargo ships have run ashore and the ports of Valencia and Sagunto were temporarily closed on Saturday.

The flooding has also disrupted high-speed train services between Madrid and Valencia and various regional lines, while some bridges and roads have been made impassible.

Around 500 people have been moved from their homes, although some evacuees have begun to return home to clear up the mess with the help of local authority workers.

Forecasters say the heavy rain, which started on Friday morning, is moving east and will eventually head northwards toward Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

The deluge comes after months of virtual drought and soaring summer temperatures all over Spain that triggered thousands of wildfires.