Is it safe to travel to Canary Islands after flooding and is Gran Canaria airport closed? - As Carnival season arrives in the Canary Islands, some performances were cancelled due to the adverse weathe

Eyewitness footage captured the bold rescue of a woman trapped in her car as raging floodwaters threatened to sweep it downstream in Spain’s Gran Canaria on Monday (March 3). Ramon Vera, the man who raced to help her, recalled to Reuters the next day his shock at seeing cars being washed away.

The Canary Islands government has placed the entire archipelago under a state of pre-alert for rain after flash floods swept through parts of Gran Canaria. On Monday more than 30 litres per square metre of rain fell in less than an hour in some areas of the island.

Published images show cars washed away by the floods in Gran Canaria, with its streets become raging rivers as water levels rise. Piles of mud and dirt have covered the streets as torrential rain battered the popular holiday island. The entire island of Lanzarote - the easternmost island of the archipelago - is also under a weather warning.

During a period of heavy rain, the Canary Islands Government also advised to avoid driving and, if absolutely necessary, take extreme precautions, maintain a safe distance between vehicles, moderate speed and drive preferably on main roads or motorways, avoiding forest tracks or secondary roads.

Torrential rainfall turned streets into fast flowing rivers in parts of the popular holiday destination of Grand Canaria on Monday. The town of Telde in the east of the island was particularly hard hit with heavy downpours.

Eyewitness footage captured cars stranded on flooded streets and vehicle being swept into the sea by rising floodwaters in Spain's Gran Canaria on Monday (March 3).