Thunder and lighting suspend America's Cup races as heavy rains fall across Catalonia 

After experiencing one of the hottest summers on record, Catalonia is currently seeing heavy rains and storms around the territory. 

Such were the heavy rains that began on Tuesday morning that half of the America's Cup races of the day had to be cancelled.  

The Italian team was about to complete the last lap of its race against New Zealand, the second match of the day, when lightning struck in the middle of the race course just a few hundred metres ahead of Luna Rossa on their way to the finishing line. 

After that, the Race Committee called a halt to racing, awarding the win to Luna Rossa whilst Emirates Team New Zealand were disqualified for going far outside the boundary of the racecourse. 

Wednesday's regattas have also been suspended. 

Lightning also caused all beaches in the Catalan capital to close, as the public safety office banned ocean swimming. 

Heavy rains around Catalonia 

Apart from the thunder that occurred in Barcelona, the Civil Protection services have activated the Inuncat flood plan for Tuesday and Wednesday's rains.  

The heaviest rains are expected on Wednesday morning in the west of Catalonia and around Tarragona. More thunder and lightning are foreseen, as well as hail. 

Farmers have already seen some of their fields flooded in Castelldans, in eastern Catalonia, where 76 liters by square meter have rained.

On Wednesday morning, Catalan firefighters attended 30 warnings related to the intense rain all around Catalonia. 

Most of the warnings came from Tarragona, where rain has been the heaviest since Tuesday night.

In addition, various towns from the Segrià and Noguera counties have been without power for about an hour. 

Lighting struck a cable in half and there was no electricity in six villages in eastern Catalonia.

Since the start of intense rains at 9 pm on Tuesday, the firefighters have received a total of 105 warnings and notices.

Delays in Barcelona airport

The storms that are crossing Catalonia during Wednesday are causing delays on flights departing and arriving in Barcelona.

Some flights have seen up to two hour delays, while the air company Vueling has cancelled flights to Palma, Madrid, Lisbon, Bordeaux, Paris, Lyon, Nice, and Milan.