Today has seen strong gusts of hot wind and one of them swept up a chiringuito terrace umbrella in Salobreña and hurled it against a waiter.

The oven-hot gusting winds struck the coast just after half three in the afternoon, ripping across the beach, catching bathers by surprise.

But the biggest surprise came for the chiringuitos because the wind threatened to overturn sunbeds, tables, chairs and the large parasols or terrace umbrellas.

The 48-year-old waiter in question was on the roof of the chiringuito – it’s not clear why – when he was struck by a flying beach umbrella. He momentarily lost consciousness but soon came round. He had to be taken down off the roof on a stretcher, and once safely back on the ground, was taken to Santa Ana Hospital.

Across town, no doubt, awnings were torn loose or damaged – a nightmare for home-insurance companies…

(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)