SEA FOAM COATS COSTA BRAVA RESORT AS COAST WEATHERS STORM GLORIA

The freak weather front has claimed at least eight lives after unleashing blizzards, floods, surreal foam drifts and mountainous seas with 50ft waves along the Mediterranean coast.
Amid the chaos, rescue teams in Ibiza are searching for a British man feared to have been swept away during the onslaught.

Emergency crews launched a search for the 25-year-old after he disappeared in Portinatx in the municipality of Sant Joan de Labritja .

It's been reported the missing man is one of the crew crew of a boat which docked in the port of Ibiza.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the mainland are now without power in the wake of the winter storm which even coated roads near Benidorm in snow.

The north-east and the Balearic Islands are now on high alert as forecasters predict even more gales, heavy rain and icy conditions.

A wave nearly 50ft high which was described as a "record-high" was recorded off the holiday island of Menorca at 1pm local time on Tuesday

While the port authorities reported towering waves of nearly 28ft were battering Valencia - which they later revealed was also a record.Nine provinces are still on orange or yellow alert because of huge waves and even fears of avalanches.

Gloria is also expected to bring heavy rains to Catalonia increasing the risk of shocking floods in towns and villages neighbouring rivers.

The Interior Minister has described the storm as 'exceptional' while the UK Foreign Office has issued an 'extreme risk' warning to British tourists.

It's also been reported the death toll will almost certainly rise as several people are missing after Gloria struck.

Videos showed waves crashing over the seafront walls and sending water cascading down the street towards buildings in Cala Ratjada on Majorca.

While sea foam invaded several streets near the seafront in Tossa de Mar following the potent mix of high winds, waves and torrential rain.

One woman was filmed trying to get into her house in the resort up to her waist in the bizarre foam
The storm, described by the head of Barcelona’s beach services as “probably the worst this century” continued to cause more destruction throughout last night.

It has already been linked to eight deaths, including that of a 43-year-old engineer killed by an out-of-control van as he tried to put snow chains on the tyres of a car.

His wife and two young children were sitting in near a ski station in the northern province of Leon.

On Tuesday afternoon, emergency crews in Majorca revealed they were calling off the search for a missing 27-year-old man who disappeared after going abseiling with two friends.

The search operation had to be suspended because of the bad weather.

It also emerged a Spanish 67-year-old was also missing feared dead after his car was carried away in a flood area as he drove from Benidorm to nearby Callosa d’En Sarria.