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.<br />Amid the chaos, rescue teams in Ibiza are searching for a British man feared to have been swept away during the onslaught.<br /><br />Emergency crews launched a search for the 25-year-old after he disappeared in Portinatx in the municipality of Sant Joan de Labritja .<br /><br />It's been reported the missing man is one of the crew crew of a boat which docked in the port of Ibiza.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The north-east and the Balearic Islands are now on high alert as forecasters predict even more gales, heavy rain and icy conditions.<br /><br />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<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Gloria is also expected to bring heavy rains to Catalonia increasing the risk of shocking floods in towns and villages neighbouring rivers.<br /><br />The Interior Minister has described the storm as 'exceptional' while the UK Foreign Office has issued an 'extreme risk' warning to British tourists.<br /><br />It's also been reported the death toll will almost certainly rise as several people are missing after Gloria struck.<br /><br />Videos showed waves crashing over the seafront walls and sending water cascading down the street towards buildings in Cala Ratjada on Majorca.<br /><br />While sea foam invaded several streets near the seafront in Tossa de Mar following the potent mix of high winds, waves and torrential rain.<br /><br />One woman was filmed trying to get into her house in the resort up to her waist in the bizarre foam<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />His wife and two young children were sitting in near a ski station in the northern province of Leon.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The search operation had to be suspended because of the bad weather.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />
