Majorca holidays ruined as floods cause Palma Airport chaos

Passengers have described "scenes of chaos" with people running for shelter, after torrential rain caused extensive flooding at Majorca's international airport on Tuesday.

Stunning images show water cascading down into the main terminal from the roof, as the storm hit the island with full force.

In other footage a baggage handler is filmed lying down on the tarmac and disappearing under the water, which is several inches deep.

Another member of airport staff wades knee-deep through the water outside the main terminal.

A photo also shows the water reaching almost as high as the engine of a plane parked on the tarmac.

The heavy downpour left large parts of the outside areas and runaway under water, forcing the airport to temporarily suspend flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

A weather station at the airport in the capital Palma recorded rainfall of nearly 5cm (2in) per hour, peaking at up to 9cm (3.5in) in less than an hour.

AENA, the operator of Palma de Mallorca Airport, said they had to suspend flights for safety reasons.

It said in a statement: "Palma de Mallorca Airport has temporarily paralysed operations due to the impact of a strong storm, due to the impossibility of operating safely."

Flights en-route to Majorca were redirected to alternative airports, Spain's transport minister Oscar Puente said.

Later flights were allowed to take off again, after the rain subsided. Meteorologists issued an amber alert on Tuesday afternoon, as the storm closed in on the island.

The airport took the brunt of the storm, which also hit Ibiza hard. More rain has been forecast for Wednesday and possibly Thursday.