Emergency personnel walk amongst debris on a street in Breil-sur-Roya, south-eastern France, on October 4, 2020, after extensive flooding caused widespread damage in the Alpes-Maritimes departement. – French and Italian rescue services stepped up their search efforts after floods cut off several villages near the two countries’ border, causing widespread damage and killing two people in Italy. Eight people remained unaccounted for on the French side of the border after storms, torrential rain and flash floods battered the area, washing away roads and houses, cutting off entire villages and triggering landslips.

The death toll from devastating floods in Germany reached 133 on Saturday, police said, bringing the total number of those killed in Europe to 153.

“According to current information, 90 people lost their lives during the disaster” in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, one of the worst-hit, police in the city of Koblenz said in a statement. A further 43 people have died in the neighbouring North Rhine-Westphalia, and 20 in Belgium.