A toddler has tragically died after being hit by a huge hailstone during a severe storm in Spain.
The infant, just 20 months old, was one of 30 people who were injured following direct impacts from plummeting hailstones that were as big as four inches in diameter.
You can see footage of the extreme weather below:
Advert
The horror storm occurred in and around the Catalan town of La Bisbal de l’Emporda yesterday (30 August).
While the toddler was rushed to the Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona yesterday afternoon, she tragically died mere hours later.
The nationality of the child remains unknown.
Today (31 August), a woman also remained in the same hospital due to the severe injuries she endured in the freak hailstorm.
Advert
It has been reported that most of the other 28 people who were seeking medical treatment suffered head injuries, cuts from the ice that required stitches, and even broken bones.
Alongside the devastating human impact, the four-inch-long hailstones caused damage to the town itself.
Cars and windows were dented and smashed by the tennis ball sized stones.
Advert
Weather chiefs from Catalan revealed that the hailstones were the largest the town had seen in over twenty years.
The deadliest-known hailstorm in history was the one that lashed the Indian city of Moradabad in 1888.
The natural disaster led to nearly 250 people's deaths after being hit by hail the size of oranges.
The record for the largest hailstone is one that fell in Vivian, South Dakota back in 2010.
Advert
Double the size of the hailstones from the Spanish storm yesterday, the South Dakota stones weighed around 878 grams and measured nearly eight inches in diameter.
A warning was issued to tourists who were travelling to Spain earlier in this month, as officials alerted them of the possibility of being caught up in the rare Mediterranean hurricanes.
These tropical-like cyclones have been dubbed as 'medicanes' by experts.
Advert
Experts report that the risk of such medicanes has significantly increased following this year’s record heatwaves and the steep rise in sea temperatures attributed to global warming.
Oceanographer and weather expert Yurima Celdran, a marine sciences graduate with a masters degree in meteorology, stated: “Higher Mediterranean temperatures provide a greater source of energy for medicanes and amplify their destructivity.
"Sea temperatures this autumn are expected to be higher than normal and if the necessary atmosphere conditions are in place, it would not be unreasonable to think the Mediterranean could harbour a medicane this year."
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Topics: Weather, World News
Rhiannon Ingle