A 71-year-old British man dies after being rescued from flooding in Spain

A Briton has died hours after being rescued from his home on the outskirts of Málaga, Spain, after severe flooding hit parts of the country, local officials say.

The 71-year-old – who has not been named – was taken to hospital after being rescued and was “suffering from hypothermia”, according to the president of the Andalusian government in southern Spain.

He died after “multiple cardiac arrests,” Juanma Moreno said.

At least 95 people have died after heavy rain and hailstorms triggered flash floods on Tuesday.

Most of those deaths – 92 – occurred in the eastern city of Valencia.

Two more people died in the central Castile-La Mancha region.

There are fears the death toll could rise in the coming days as many people remain missing in affected areas.

Local officials in the town of Chiva, near Valencia, said it was “impossible” to give a definitive death toll.

More than a year's worth of rain fell there in just eight hours on Tuesday.

Footage from the region posted on social media shows destroyed neighborhoods and cars piled up on the street.

Meteorologists believe the extreme weather is partly due to the Dana phenomenon – when a collection of cold air interacts with an area of ​​low pressure, creating a highly unstable atmospheric environment.

While studies suggest that Dana events occur several times per year in the western Mediterranean, the intensity of such rainfall events appears to be increasing due to climate change.

More than 1,000 soldiers were deployed on Wednesday to help with the rescue efforts.

But many emergency services had difficulty reaching the affected towns as roads were flooded and power lines were down, cutting off residents from work and their families.

Julianne Stockport volunteers at an animal shelter in Carlet, Valencia – an area that was badly damaged by the flooding.

The 43-year-old, who moved to Spain from the UK six years ago, was unable to reach the shelter due to severe flooding on the roads.

“I have never seen such devastation as we are currently experiencing,” she told the BBC.

Volunteers went to great lengths to prepare the shelter, which houses more than 80 dogs and cats, for the storm.

When the downpour hit, Ms Stockport received a national warning telling her to stay at her home in Gandia, so she was unable to make the 45-minute drive to ensure the animals and her friend Grace, the Animal shelter runs, were safe.

“We felt completely helpless,” she said. “Later in the day we were unable to make any contact at all. We were very worried about them and the safety of the animals.”

When the storm passed, Grace told Ms. Stockport that some of the shelter's roofs had been blown off, but “miraculously” all the animals were safe.

“It was like someone was watching over her,” Ms Stockport said.

In a nationwide address on Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged residents of regions including Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia to remain vigilant as several weather warnings remain in place.

“For those who are still looking for their loved ones, all of Spain is crying with us,” he said.

Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres said it was still unclear how many people were missing.

Work continued overnight in Valencia to clear the city's streets of stacked cars and search for missing people.

The Spanish government has declared three days of national mourning starting Thursday. Some civil protection authorities have therefore come under criticism too slow to issue warnings in bad weather.

Additional reporting by Emma Pengelly.