The Canary Islands' "storm of the century" has left Brits trapped in airport hell as the Spanisharchipelago recovers from damage wrought by gale-force winds, heavy rain and flooding - with warnings of more to come.

Storm Therese pummelled the Brit holidayhotspot for five straight days last week, with tourists searching for some early spring sun left running for safety as 70mph winds descended on the coast. Therese's landfall brought widespread chaos, including evacuations for some residents and holidaymakers caught in its path, as thousands of people were left displaced or stranded. Brits stranded among a busload of touristswho were caught in floodwaters could be heard screaming for help in one video taken on the archipelago. Dramatic pictures have captured toiling seas, flooded roads, rivers breaking their banks, and even snow on the road.

Warnings remain in place for several islands, including Gran Canaria and Tenerife, with authorities urging people to avoid all but essential travel as the dangerous conditions are predicted to return.

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• Canary Islands 'emergency' weather warnings for Brits in Tenerife and Lanzarote

• Tenerife floods horror as Brits trapped in minibus and woman shouts 'help, help'

Shock extent of storm damage

Therese has brought typically sunny Tenerife a rare and volatile combination of weather conditions, as the archipelago has been drowned in torrential rain, which has been smashed against some of its most populous areas for days on end. The sheer volume of water being spat out by the stormy system has broken river banks and caused street-level flooding.

Pictures taken in Gran Canaria's northern and central regions have captured the bluster eating away at mountainous terrain, with the facade of one home left near-completely torn apart.

According to local damage assessments, the storm extended across Gran Canaria, including mid-altitude San Bartolomé de Tirajana amd Cuevas del Pinar, where weather stations recorded rainfall totals of 66 and 56,6 litres per square metre respectively last Tuesday. In total, the storm is believed to have dumped more than 700 litres on the island's peaks.

That extensive rainfall has caused extensive difficulties with mobile phone coverage, with intermittent outages across much of the Las Tirajanas basin.

Local operators have reportedly attributed the signal failures to lightning strikes and low clouds, with rescue teams now concentrating on ensuring electricity supply due to water seepage threatening the stability of pylons in the area. The seepage, it has been warned, could cause prolonged power outages and landslides.

High ground around the Roque de los Muchachos volcano in La Palma has been rocked by hail, with record-breaking totals reaching 118 litres.

Flood horror

The rainfall, which has already exceeded annual totals in some parts of the Canary Islands, has resulted in widespread flooding across four of the seven main islands on the chain. Among the worst-hit areas are the Arguineguín ravine in Gran Canaria, which has been hit hard by rising floodwaters and left dozens of people isolated.

San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Santa Lucía, Mogán and Telde, all top tourist hotspots, have also been hit hard, and holidaymakers, some of whom came from the UK, were left trapped in a bus and screaming "someone get us help" after they became trapped in Puerto de la Cruz in the north of Tenerife.

The holidaymakers, fearing for their lives as the floodwater continued rising in the tunnel they were trapped in, began to exit the minibus via the sunroof with the first out waving her arms frantically as she cried: "Help, help."

The driver helped three of the occupants to reach safety, but two women passengers had to be rescued by firefighters who lowered a ladder from the bridge above them to the roof of the vehicle. The drama unfolded at around 9pm Monday, around the same time a rare emergency weather warning alert about the imminent flooding risk was sent to the mobile phones of people living in the area. Miraculously all the tourists on board the minibus were unharmed.

Capital firefighters and local police were forced to club together to rescue people caught off guard by a flash flood at the Guiniguada ravine, from where they were able to extract two cyclists and a trapped woman.

Rescuers in one case were even called out to sea to carry out a daring rescue of around 60 people who were removed from a small boat after it got into trouble south of Tenerife. Helicopters with the Emergency Response Group were plucked the group from the vessel as waves around them reached a dizzying four metres.

Up to 3,000 people are believed to have been evacuated from the worst-hit parts of Gran Canaria, with Storm Therese wreaking havoc in Agaete, to the island's north. Authorities there have been forced to evacuate several entire neighbourhoods, including Los Pérez and El Hornillo, as the extreme rain fuels fears that a local dam could burst.

Local evacuees from the municipality of Tacoronte on Tenerife have been shipped to a temporary shelter set up at a secondary school, with pictures showing temporary beds being set up in a sports hall by emergency officials clad in bright red.

At least 10 reservoirs have been forced to release water to regulate high levels caused by rivers bursting their banks. Outside of evacuations, people living in Arucas, in Gran Canaria, have been told by their local council to "exercise extreme caution" over an “anticipated increase in water flow”.

Some who have failed to evacuate have been cut off by the extensive floodwaters, with one family living in Gran Canaria left trapped when the floods destroyed their home.

The family, in El Caidero, was left isolated after flooding washed away their road, with local police in Mogán forced to deploy a drone to deliver urgently needed medication.

Airport chaos

Brits have been left incensed after those not directly caught in the dangerous conditions were left in the midst of airport chais, with some taking to social media to warn others of hours-long delays. People are reporting missed flights due to delays in getting through controls and say only a handful of biometric machines are working.

And if those which are, some are not working properly and are rejecting fingerprints. Those who miss flights are having to sleep inside the airport overnight before catching another plane home.

Over 40 flights were cancelled or diverted by Friday, 20 March, mainly at Tenerife North and South airports. Travellers are urged to verify their flight status via Flightradar24 or their airline. AENA, Spain's airport operators, said that flights from Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Rotterdam were rerouted to Gran Canaria. Other services to London, Manchester, and Newcastle were also diverted to Fuerteventura.

Passengers were left stranded, causing widespread delays as aircraft were unable to land at their intended destinations. Footage captured the moment one Jet2 plane attempted to make a wobbly landing at Lanzarote Airport as the plane rocked from side to side.

One Brit posting on social media said: "The key is to arrive three hours early so at least you are in the front of the queue when problems start. Love Tenerife but HATE the airport." Another summed up the chaos by posting: "Biometrics are a disaster." Police have reportedly bern called in to the south airport on several occasions to calm the crowds of angry passengers.

On one particular day, around 100 passengers were stranded at the south airport. Many were unable to find overnight accommodation so stayed in the terminal.

They are blaming lack of staff and proper organisation for the chaos, with computers not working. Another Brit added: "Passport control is a disaster. One person for thousands of travellers." Only 20 per cent of the biometric machines are working and officials admitted to the Spanish media that there were "computer failures."

Many people, seeing the chaos, have chosen to cancel their trips, with one social media user saying: "We cancelled our week away at the last minute." Another added: "Snap – we've rebooked for April 12 onwards."

Severe weather forecast

AEMET, Spain's national forecaster, has placed yellow warnings for El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, as the system threatens another round.

Last night weather chiefs sounded a rare red alert warning for torrential rain in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz, the nearby northern island municipalities of La Orotava and Los Realejos, and Puerto de La Cruz where the minibus drama affecting the British tourists occurred.

Conditions are only expected to deteriorate, with winds ramping back up towards 90kph (55mph) over high ground, and they could increase.

Residents and tourists have been advised to:

• Avoid any unnecessary travel


• Never attempt to cross floodwater


• Call emergency services immediately if they find themselves or someone else in danger


• Secure their doors and windows to prevent water coming in


• Reduce speed when driving through wet areas, and not attempt to pass through flooded roads