Fundamental research on meteorology and climate of the Mediterranean with the aim of obtaining a better understanding and modelling of the hydrological cycle, with special emphasis on the analysis of extreme weather events and their impacts in the context of global change. For this purpose, an integrative and multidisciplinary research is applied combining state-of-the-art observations and high-resolution modelling considering the different components of the climate system, soil-vegetation-atmosphere-ocean, as well as their interactions.