Storm Leonardo forces evacuations in Spain, Portugal

One of Spain's main rivers is close to bursting its banks, as Storm Leonardo blows across the Iberian Peninsula with more storms on their way.

More than 11,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the southern ⁠Andalusia region following a "storm train" of consecutive weather fronts pounding Portugal and Spain with torrential rains and strong winds over the past weeks.

A body was found not far from where a woman was swept away by a river in Malaga province as she tried to rescue her dog, military police said on Friday, adding they still needed to carry out forensic tests to confirm the identity.

State weather agency AEMET warned that another ‌storm, Marta, would hit ​the peninsula on Saturday, bringing more abundant rainfall.

Several residential areas near the Guadalquivir River in Cordoba province were evacuated overnight due to ‍the dramatic rise in water levels.

Further rain on Saturday could endanger more homes, with the situation around Jaen and the Guadalquivir area of Cordoba particularly worrisome, Andalusia's regional leader, Juan Manuel Moreno, said during a press conference on Friday.

"We expect 30mm (of rain). In other circumstances that would be little water but right now it is a lot as the soil is unable to drain and the rivers and reservoirs are full," he said.

More than 11,000 people have been evacuated, confirmed Antonio Sanz, head ​of emergencies in the Andalusian regional government.

Authorities in Cordoba halted pedestrian traffic ‌on the city's Roman bridge as the Guadalquivir rose up.

In Grazalema, a mountain village popular with hikers that has been at the centre of the storm, some ​1500 residents were evacuated as water seeped through the walls of houses and cascaded along steep cobbled streets.

The aquifers in the Grazalema mountains were ‍full and could provoke landslides due to pent-up pressure, Moreno said on SER radio.

In southern ​Portugal, large parts of the town of Alcacer do Sal by the River Sado remained semi-submerged for a third day.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro on Thursday said his government had extended a state of calamity in 69 municipalities until mid-February, adding "unprecedented" rainfall and flood risks threatened several regions.

The commander of Portugal's ANEPC civil protection service, Mario Silvestre, said six rivers - including the Tagus - were at risk of significant flooding.

The Tagus river basin was placed on red alert on Thursday due to the abrupt rise ‍in water flow.