Man tries to swim through streets of Benidorm as Spanish hotspot hit by storm

A man was filmed trying to swim through floodwaters in Benidorm as freak storms battered Europe unleashing 100kph winds, flash floods and torrential rain. The clip shows him lying on the road and attempting a front crawl through fast-flowing water as the Spanish resort was hit with heavy downpours. Other images captured drenched diners clinging to their meals on terraces while police used a patrol car to shove a floating bottle bank clear of the street. Similar chaos hit Alicante and the Balearic islands, where palm trees were torn down and roads vanished under torrents of rain. Forecaster Severe Weather Europe warned of 'extremely high rainfall' in three zones across the north-central Mediterranean on Wednesday and even possible tornadoes along Italy 's western coasts.