Latest news with #coastguards
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- Climate
- News.com.au
‘Satan's storm' smashes Spain in wild footage
This is the shocking moment a massive hot storm hits Spain sparking tornadoes and forcing dozens to flee. Tourists and locals were forced to evacuate beaches as the raging winds sent parasols and sun beds flying into the air in a freak 40C heat burst known as 'Satan's Storm'. At least five people were rescued from the water in Spain's Costa Tropical as police and coastguards urgently scoured the area for a missing person. The tornado was caused by a rare heat burst – with some areas reaching temperatures of up to 40C – commonly known as Satan's Storm. It's a rare atmospheric phenomenon characterised by a sudden, localised increase in air temperature. Horrifying footage shows holiday-makers fleeing from beaches as the winds pummel across the sands, sending wild gusts of debris and dust into the air. Meanwhile, trees can be seen dangerously swinging from side to side under dark and cloudy skies. Another clip shows garden furniture, pot plants and trees strewn across the ground after being whipped up by the devastating gusts. Popular holiday resorts Motril and Almunecar, in the south of Granada, were the worst hit as two tornadoes and waterspouts cascaded through the areas on Sunday evening. A waterspout is a rotating column of air – similar to a tornado – that forms over a body of water. Spanish weather agency Aemet confirmed on X: 'The temperature rose rapidly to 40 degrees Celsius at 7.50pm, accompanied by very strong gusts of wind that reached 53mph (85km/h).' Meanwhile, Motril's mayor Luisa Garcia Chamorro, urged: 'Attention. We are experiencing what is known as a heat burst with very strong, almost hurricane winds. 'We recommend you don't leave your homes or remain on the street. Exercise maximum caution.' Laura Bueno, who was at Torrenueva Beach, Motril at the time said: 'What a scare. A heat burst swept away chairs and sunshades. 'It was a hot wind like the winds from the Sahara Desert. It knocked over containers and blew everything into the sea. Children and adults suffered panic attacks.' Another shocked local added: 'I don't remember seeing such a rapid weather change in such a short space of time.' The wild storms come as Spain tackles ongoing fires tearing through parts of the country. Four people have now died and six left with horrific burns in Castilla y Leon, north of Spain's capital Madrid, as the country enters its ninth day of wildfires. While, more than 3,500 residents were forced out of their homes in the provinces of León, Zamora, Salamanca, and Palencia amid reports of 28 active fires. In Ourense, northwestern Spain, wildfires have devastated almost 60,000 hectares of land, making it the worst forest disaster in the province so far this summer. The wildfires are evolving irregularly, and all of them are being closely monitored for possible re-ignitions. A spokesperson for the regional government in León, Eduardo Diego, said residents in the town of Castropetre will be forced to evacuate because of the blaze. Meanwhile, rescue teams continue to battle the fire tearing through Cáceres, Extremadura, a western Spanish region, which the president of the regional government María Guardiola said was 'out of control'.
The Sun
16 hours ago
- Climate
- The Sun
Horror moment apocalyptic ‘Satan's Storm' hits Spain sparking tornadoes & sending tourists fleeing freak 104F heat burst
THIS is the horrific moment an apocalyptic storm hits Spain sparking massive tornadoes and forcing dozens to flee. Tourists and locals were evacuated from beaches as the raging winds sent parasols and other objects flying into the air in a freak 104F heat burst known as Satan's Storm. 3 3 3 At least five people were rescued from the water in Spain 's Costa Tropical as cops and coastguards were deployed in an urgent hunt for a missing person. The tornado was caused by a rare heat spike, with some areas reaching temperatures of up to 40C. A heatburst, commonly known as a Satan's Storm, is a rare atmospheric phenomenon characterized by a sudden, localized increase in air temperature. Horrifying footage shows holidaymakers fleeing the beach as the winds pummel through the sand, sending debris and dust flying into the air. Meanwhile, trees dangerously swing from side to side under a dark and cloudy sky punctuated by the odd ray of sunshine. Another clip shows garden furniture, pot plants and trees strewn across the ground after being struck by the devastating gusts. Popular holiday resorts Motril and Almunecar, in the south of Granada, were the worst hit as two tornadoes and waterspouts cascaded through the areas yesterday evening. A waterspout is a rotating column of air - similar to a tornado - that forms over a body of water. Spanish weather agency Aemet confirmed on X: 'The temperature rose rapidly to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) at 7.50pm, accompanied by very strong gusts of wind that reached 53mph.' Meanwhile, Motril's mayor Luisa Garcia Chamorro, urged: 'Attention. We are experiencing what is known as a heat burst with very strong, almost hurricane winds. 'We recommend you don't leave your homes or remain on the street. Exercise maximum caution.' Laura Bueno, who was at Torrenueva Beach, Motril at the time said: 'What a scare. A heat burst swept away chairs and sunshades. "It was a hot wind like the winds from the Sahara Desert. It knocked over containers and blew everything into the sea. Children and adults suffered panic attacks.' Another shocked local added: 'I don't remember seeing such a rapid weather change in such a short space of time.'
The Sun
22-06-2025
- The Sun
Brit woman missing at sea for four days off hols hotspot island is found ALIVE after being rescued by a passing ferry
THE British woman who went missing for four days after hiring a boat on the paradise island of Formentera has been rescued alive. A major search operation was launched on Wednesday after the 39-year-old failed to return the 15-foot motor boat to the rental firm. 2 2 Today it emerged she had been luckily rescued adrift by a passing ferry covering the Ibiza to Valencia route. She is understood to have been transferred to hospital in Valencia to receive medical attention. Her condition this morning was not immediately clear. The rescue is said to have occurred around 5pm on Saturday. There hasn't yet been any official statement from the Civil Guard although they confirmed today the woman had been found alive. The vessel she had lost her way in, a cream-coloured Quicksilver 475 Axess with a Mercury outboard motor, has been towed to Ibiza by coastguards. Police divers had been incorporated into the search for her on Thursday after Civil Guard and Spanish coastguards helicopters and boats were mobilised. Speaking this morning a Civil Guard spokesman said: 'The British woman who vanished after hiring a boat in Formentera on Tuesday morning has been found alive.' The police force had said on Friday in its first official comments about the disappearance: 'The missing woman is a 39-year-old British national who hired the boat in the port of La Salina in Formentera on Tuesday morning. 'She was supposed to return it around 6pm on Wednesday and when she didn't her friends became worried and raised the alarm. 'From the time she was reported missing on Wednesday evening a search operation was launched which continued throughout the day yesterday. 'She hasn't been found yet nor has the boat she was on. 'The Civil Guard's Judicial Police unit has been investigating this woman's disappearance but two vessels belonging to our Maritime Unit were mobilised yesterday along with one from the specialist sub-aquatic GEAS unit. 'The officers from the Maritime Unit conduct the searches from speedboats and the GEAS are essentially diving specialists.' A police source said last week the missing woman had been living on one of the Balearic islands for around two months, although it was not immediately clear if the island is Ibiza or Formentera. A Spanish Coastguard spokeswoman said they had received an alert about the missing Brit just after 8.30pm on Wednesday and had immediately mobilised a helicopter and boat to assist in the search. Police have not yet said exactly where the woman was when she was rescued or explain how she managed to go so badly adrift. It is not clear how much experience she had at sea.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Migrants slump to the ground as French police again use tear gas to stop them setting off for Britain... but many more make it to waiting 'taxi boats' yelling 'England, England!'
Dozens of migrants battled through teargas grenades on a beach near Calais this morning before setting off for Britain. Extraordinary scenes showed dozens of French police and coastguards looking on as men and some women crammed onto an overloaded boat off Gravelines beach. More than 50 police tried to stop as many as 200 migrants reaching the sea - and with the aid of teargas grenades stopped more than half. But they could not stop them all. Soon, large groups including women, and one man hobbling on crutches, made it to the waves. There, be it ankle deep or thigh deep, they stood – with an officer explaining they remained under strict rules not to apprehend anyone in the sea, however shallow. The migrants then simply waited for the so-called 'taxi boat' dinghy they are paying typically £1,500 each to ferry them across the Channel, shouting 'England, England' as it approached. A police officer speaking anonymously told the Mail the dinghy had first been spotted at 5.30am, half a mile inland in the very centre of the town of Gravelines, on a water channel to the sea. The large squad of police had used teargas in a successful bid to drive a large group of migrants away from the sparsely occupied dinghy, as police video shown to us illustrated. But the dinghy simply chugged off down the long channel to the sea - and cruised up and down the large Gravelines beach, in front of a giant nuclear power station. The police relocated to the beach and again used teargas in their bid to stop more than 100 migrants getting on to the sand. They could not stop them all. First one group of around 40, then a second, then a third, outflanked or ran between the groups of officers, as the clouds or acrid tear gas first dispersed in the gentle breeze. The migrants were soon standing in the sea in three separate groups spread over half a mile of the huge beach. Most of the police stayed back at the dunes hundreds of yards away, with just half a dozen or so nearing the surf simply to watch. The dinghy 'taxi boat' took its time - circling and loitering within hailing distance of a 'Gendarmerie Maritime' speedboat, and with a larger coastguard ship and two non-military French government ships stationed a little further out to sea. None did anything to interfere. They continued do nothing as the dinghy entirely came closer to the shore to pick up first one group of migrants, then, though perilously full, a second - with those climbing aboard whooping and cheering as they did so. The dinghy eventually approached the third group in the sea - but evidently decided 18 more, including three women, was too many. People thought to be migrants wade through the sea to board a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines Only then did it slowly start to chug away from the beach - the gendarmerie speedboat still in attendance. A police officer, resigned to the situation, told the Mail: 'The gendarmerie boat is only there in case a migrant falls in the water. 'Our men call out to them 'Do you need any help?' They always say no. 'Until they reach British waters half way across that it - when your men ask 'Do you need any help?', the migrants immediately say yes so they can be taken safely to shore' The officer was largely happy with his team's operation this morning - but said it simply was not possible to stop migrants getting in to the boats. 'We can't have policeman stood in a line one metre apart all along the coast of northern France,' he said. More than 900 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Friday, new government figures have shown. The Home Office said 919 people made the perilous journey in 14 boats, which pushed the total of arrivals for the year to just over 16,000. This shows a 42 per cent increase year-on-year and is up 79 per cent from the same date in 2023. But Friday's total number of migrant crossings was not the highest daily number so far this year. On May 31, 1,195 people arrived into Britain via the Channel in small boats. Last year, almost 37,000 people left the northern French coastline and arrived in the UK. The scenes in Gravelines this morning come after Keir Starmer faced ridicule for boasting that Britain is leading the world in tackling illegal migration, despite record numbers continuing to cross the Channel this month. The Prime Minister highlighted UK plans to slap travel bans and asset freezes on people-smuggling kingpins in talks with fellow world leaders at the G7 summit in Canada. He held one-on-one talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni and Downing Street said afterwards that he 'raised the UK's world-leading work on people-smuggling sanctions'. This week, however, there was little sign of any deterrent in action as gangs who organise the crossings continued to outwit French police.
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
US, Philippine Coast Guards Join Navy Drills Amid China Tensions
The US and the Philippines held a new round of joint sails within Manila's exclusive economic zone, with their coast guards participating for the first time, amid continuing tensions in the disputed South China Sea. The sixth maritime cooperative activity was conducted on Tuesday in the waters of Occidental Mindoro and Palawan that's facing the resource-rich waterway, the Philippine military said in a statement on Wednesday.
