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Rescue efforts are underway after record rainfall caused flooding in south-eastern Spain.

Thousands of police, fire-fighters and soldiers have been sent out, some in boats and helicopters, to help people who've been affected.

It comes after rivers burst their banks as some areas of Valencia, Murcia and eastern Andalucía saw the heaviest rainfall on record.

The flash floods swept away cars and swamped homes and fields.

Over 3,500 people had to be evacuated from their homes and six people are thought to have died.

The flooding affected the regions of Valencia, Murcia and Andalucía

On Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the country's flooded regions, observing the damage from a helicopter flying over the city of Orihuela in the region of Valencia.

Several railway lines and many schools in the region were shut because of the adverse weather conditions, with 689,000 students affected in Valencia alone, according to AFP.

The prime minister said water levels need to lower before the government can make an estimate of the total cost of the damage.