EPAHeavy storms battering central Europe are now reaching Italy, where warnings of heavy rain, strong winds and flooding have been issued across much of the country.
Flooding has already been reported in the central city of Pescara, while weather warnings from the Italian Meteorological Service are in effect from the northern coast of Emilia-Romagna to the south.
The warnings come as floods have devastated parts of Poland , the Czech Republic, Romania and Austria this week, leaving at least 21 dead.
Authorities in Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia are also warning of flooding in the coming days.
The significant flooding was caused by Storm Boris, which brought huge amounts of rain and snow over the weekend.
More than 5,000 troops have been deployed to help people in southern Poland, including 40,000 residents evacuated from the town of Nysa.
Floodwaters are receding in some parts of the region and spreading in others, with the extent of the damage being revealed in Polish towns such as Glucholazy.
The city’s main bridge collapsed after being damaged by the swollen river, while many of its streets have been covered in mud.
Polish police on Tuesday confirmed that at least six people had died, warning against “false information” after media reports put the total death toll at more than a dozen.
The country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has declared a month-long state of natural disaster – with the worst flooding expected to hit the city of Wrocław on Wednesday.
Areas along the Czech-Polish border are among the worst affected, with 15,000 people also evacuated in the Czech Republic.
The country has experienced its worst floods in 27 years, according to the local NGO Ěponík v tísn.
Ostrava was one of the hardest hit cities after the Oder River burst its banks following heavy rain on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, water levels continue to rise rapidly on the Danube River in Slovakia and Hungary, with the Slovak capital Bratislava and the Hungarian capital Budapest bracing for possible flooding.
Emergency services and volunteers, in some places supported by the military, are also working around the clock to protect low-lying settlements in the area.
ReutersAustrian authorities have closed parts of the Danube to shipping traffic over high water levels along the vital waterway, according to local media reports.
The Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service has warned that the river could experience an “extremely rare” rise in water – and confirmed plans are in place to install flood barriers if necessary.
In Italy, the country’s National Civil Protection Agency also issued yellow alerts for nearly 50 areas tomorrow, warning of the risk of storms, landslides and flooding.
Professor Hannah Cloke, a meteorologist from the University of Reading, told the BBC that river levels had peaked in most of the smaller, mountain rivers of flood-hit eastern Europe.
“Some larger rivers, such as the Danube and the Oder, are still rising in parts and won’t start falling again until late Tuesday or Wednesday and will remain much higher than normal,” he added.
BBC weather forecasters point to the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions as areas of greatest concern.
The region could see a month or two of rain in just the next three days and there are major concerns about the prospect of flooding.
Firefighters in Pescara, Abruzzo, say they have already received more than 200 calls for help after heavy rain caused flooding.
In Romania, more rain is forecast in the eastern Carpathians, endangering towns and villages in the provinces of Galati and Vaslui, which are already badly affected.
Getty ImagesExtreme rainfall is becoming more frequent and intense in central Europe, as in much of the world.
While the events in central Europe fit expectations for more extreme rainfall in a warming world, it is not yet possible to precisely quantify the role of climate change.
To know for sure, this requires a full scientific analysis of the natural and human influences—which could take weeks or months.
But climate scientists have been warning for years about extreme rainfall events like those occurring as the planet warms.
A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall.
Warmer oceans also lead to more evaporation, fueling storm systems.
For every 1C increase in global average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture.
Professor Cloke told the BBC that BBC experts expect climate change to lead to worse flooding in the coming years if global temperatures continue to rise, as “extreme summer rainfall is heavier and fills rivers faster”.
He also noted: “Just a few weeks ago, parts of southern and eastern Europe were suffering from droughts, heatwaves and fires.”
“We’re out of the frying pan and into hot water.”
