Intense storms battering central Europe are now reaching Italy, where warnings for heavy rain, strong winds and flooding have been issued for most of the country.
Flooding has already been reported in the central city of Pescara, while the weather warning of the Italian meteorological service applies from the northern coast of Emilia-Romagna to the extreme south.
The warnings come as The floods devastated parts of Polandthe 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 large amounts of rain and snow over the weekend.
More than 5,000 soldiers were deployed to help the people Southern Polandincluding the 40,000 residents evacuated from the city of Nysa.
The flood water recedes in some parts of the region and spreads in others, with the extent of the damage revealed in places like Glucholazy.
The city’s main bridge collapsed after being damaged by the swollen river, while many of its streets are covered in a thick layer of mud.
Polish police have confirmed that at least six people have died, warning against “false information” after media reports put the total number of people killed 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 Wroclaw on Wednesday.
Areas along the Czech-Polish border are among the most affected, where 15,000 people have been evacuated Czech Republic as well.
The country experienced the worst flooding in more than 27 years, according to the local NGO Čnoký v tísn.
Ostrava was one of the hardest hit cities, after the Oder River burst its banks following heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
The water level continues to rise rapidly on the Danube River Slovakia and Hungarywith the Slovak capital Bratislava and its Hungarian counterpart Budapest preparing for possible flooding.
Emergency services and volunteers, in some places supported by the army, are also working 24 hours a day to protect low-lying settlements in the region.
Austrian authorities have closed sections 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 put up flood barriers if necessary.
In Italythe country’s National Civil Protection Service has also issued yellow alerts for nearly 50 regions tomorrow, warning that there is a risk of storms, landslides and flooding.
The BBC’s weather forecasts indicate the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions as an area of greatest concern.
The region could see one to two months of rain fall in the next three days alone, and there are major concerns about the prospect of flooding.
Red weather warnings have already been issued by the meteorological service of the Italian Air Force for Wednesday.
Firefighters in Pescara, Abruzzo say they have already received more than 200 calls for help after heavy rains caused flooding.
In Romaniamore rain is expected in the eastern Carpathians, which endangers the towns and villages in the contacts of Galati and Vaslui, which have already been hard.
Extreme precipitation is becoming more frequent and more intense across central Europe, as it is in much of the world.
While the events in central Europe fit the expectations of more extreme precipitation in a warming world, it is not yet possible to quantify exactly how much of a role climate change has played.
To know for sure, that requires a complete scientific analysis of natural and human influences – which can take weeks or months.
But climate scientists have been warning for years about extreme rainfall events like these occurring as the planet warms.
A warmer atmosphere contains more moisture, which leads to more intense precipitation.
Warmer oceans also lead to more evaporation, fueling storm systems.
For every 1C increase in global average temperature, the atmosphere is able to hold about 7% more moisture.