At least five people have died and three are missing as Spain is at the mercy of severe weather with record rainfall that has caused flooding in central parts of the country, closing roads, metro lines and high-speed rail links.

Before the country recovers from the heatwave, the residents of Madrid are being tested this time with the authorities calling on them to stay in their homes for their safety.

Helicopters were sent to rescue people who had taken shelter on the roofs of their houses in the Toledo area about 50 km southwest of Madrid, emergency services said.

The downpour has turned roads into rivers of mud that swept away cars and rubbish bins in the regions of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia and Valencia. In many areas in fact it also hailed.

Residents in Madrid were notified via 112 with a message text sent to their cell phones. It was the first time authorities had used this alert system

Three people died in the countryside around the central city of Toledowhere the weather service AEMET recorded a record rainfall of 90 liters per square meter on Sunday.

One of the victims was a young man trapped in a water-filled elevator, while another was inside a vehicle when it flooded, police said.

The third person who died was a 50-year-old man who had been reported missing. His body was found in the afternoon floating in a river near his home in the town of Camarena.

The same time, a 10-year-old boy was rescued after being stuck in a tree for eight hours to escape the flood waters that claimed the lives of five people.

The boy’s family were staying at their holiday home in Aldea del Fresno, west of Madrid, when the storm hit on Sunday. To avoid the floods, they boarded their car late Sunday night, but were swept away by the waters. The boy was found, dirty and bruised but still alive, the next morning – as were his mother and sister. His father is still missing.

In the Madrid area, the emergency services dealt with nearly 1,200 incidents overnight and firefighters and police searched for a man in rural Aldea del Fresnosouthwest of Madrid, emergency services said.

Several roads in the Madrid area were closed as several bridges collapsed from the water that overflowed the banks of the river.

Several metro lines were closed in central Madridalthough traffic was later restored in most of the city during the morning, the metro operator Metro de Madrid said in a statement.

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