Paris:
Seven people have been killed in violent storms and torrential rains that battered France, Switzerland and Italy this weekend, local authorities said on Sunday.
Three people in their 70s and 80s were killed on Saturday in the Aube region in northeastern France after strong winds crushed the car they were in into a tree, local authorities told AFP.
A fourth passenger is said to be in critical condition.
Four people were killed and one person is missing in neighbouring Switzerland, local police said.
Three people were killed after heavy rains triggered landslides in the southeast, police in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino said.
A man was also found dead in a hotel in Saas-Grün, southwestern canton Valais, police said, adding that he had probably been surprised by the sudden rapid rise in floodwaters.
Another man is also missing in canton Valais, police said.
Security officials said “hundreds” of people had been evacuated and roads had been closed in canton Valais after the Rhône river and its tributaries overflowed in many places.
Emergency services were working out how best to evacuate 300 people who had arrived to take part in a football tournament in Peccia, while nearly 70 people had been evacuated from a holiday camp in the village of Mogno.
Police had previously said bad weather was making rescue efforts particularly difficult, with some valleys inaccessible and power grids cut off.
Parts of the state are without drinking water, according to a federal alert system.
Heavy rains also fell in southeastern Switzerland last weekend, leaving one person dead and causing extensive damage.
Internet users shared images of spectacular flooding and swollen rivers cascading down mountain slopes in the Aosta Valley in northern Italy.
Scientists say climate change caused by human activities is increasing the severity, frequency and duration of extreme weather events such as floods and storms.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)