BARCELONA, Spain, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Recent heavy rainfall across Spain has raised the country's reservoir levels to their highest point in three years, according to the latest figures from the ministry for ecological transition and the demographic challenge.

After years of extreme drought in many regions, the past 10 days have brought a notable improvement, with reservoirs rising from 60.9 percent to 65.8 percent of capacity.

Some reservoirs have seen dramatic recoveries. The Baells reservoir in northeastern Spain is now at 93 percent capacity, a sharp rebound from its record low of 19 percent last summer.

Spain's 374 reservoirs have a total storage capacity of about 56,000 cubic hectometers (chm). In the past week alone, water levels increased by 2,751 chm, reaching a total of 36,867 chm.

Further rainfall is forecast this week, likely contributing to continued recovery. "More rain is coming in the next few days, so both this week and next week are expected to remain rainy," Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), said on Monday.

The rainfall is especially welcome in drought-stricken regions such as Andalusia and Catalonia. Reservoir levels there have risen from 38 to 50 percent and 32 to 67 percent, respectively.

Del Campo noted that the prolonged drought may now be coming to an end. "The long drought we've had will probably end in March because it's raining heavily - and in our Mediterranean climate, rains tend to arrive suddenly and in abundance after long dry spells," he said.

Still, Aemet remains cautious about linking these extreme weather patterns directly to climate change. "We're seeing shorter, more intense periods of rain followed by longer dry spells, but we need further study to understand how climate change is influencing these atmospheric dynamics," Del Campo added.

In Madrid, March has already broken rainfall records. More than 213 liters per square meter have fallen this month, surpassing the previous record of 198 liters set in 1997. With more rain expected, local authorities have advised residents to keep alert to banks as concerns mount that the Manzanares River could overflow. Enditem

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