Six people have been killed after rivers burst their banks following torrential overnight rain in the central Italian region of Tuscany, local authorities said on Friday.
There had been fears that the River Arno could flood the historic city of Florence after nearby towns were swamped by the southern edge of Storm Ciarán, but the high water point passed in mid-morning without major incident.
Monia Monni, regional councillor for civil protection, confirmed the latest death toll, adding that one person was still missing.
“The situation is still very critical,” especially in Campi Bisenzio, a town about 15km north-west of Florence where water levels were still high, she said.
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“[Elsewhere], the water has drained away but there is mud and the devastation that an event like this leaves behind”, Ms Monni added.
About 190 people have been forced to evacuate their homes, including 150 who live in Campi Bisenzio.
The Italian government declared a state of emergency and allocated an initial €5 million to help the worst-hit areas.
About 48,000 people in the region had no electricity, deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference.
Tuscany president Eugenio Giani said the region had never seen so much rain in such a short space of time. “What happened overnight in Tuscany has a clear name: CLIMATE CHANGE,” he wrote on the social media site X.
Another person, a firefighter, was missing in the northeastern Veneto region, the local governor was quoted as saying by Sky TG24.
Weather alerts remained in force in a number of Italian regions, with some schools closed, after a week in which the country has been lashed by strong winds and heavy rain.
Storm Ciarán was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and furious winds that have already caused heavy flooding in Northern Ireland, parts of Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
Italy is seen as particularly exposed to the effects of climate change. Floods in the region of Emilia-Romagna in May killed at least 14 people.
In eastern Spain, a wildfire fuelled by storm winds has burned almost 2,000 hectares of land and forced the removal of 850 people from their homes in four towns, officials said.
Some 200 firefighters and army emergency unit soldiers were deployed to try to extinguish the blaze near the town of Montitxelvo. The regional government of Valencia said it hoped five water-carrying planes and helicopters would be deployed in the operation.
Regional president Carlos Mazon called on people to avoid travel in the area or activities in forests that could start fires.
State news agency Efe said winds in the zone reached 120km/h overnight. Mr Mazon described the winds as the main element fuelling the fire in the mountainous and wooded terrain.
The fire comes as Spain, like much of Europe, continued to face heavy rains and gales from Storm Ciarán. However, the rain and low temperatures have not helped prevent the wildfire.
Spain has been suffering a drought for the past two years, intensified by climate change. Because the land is so parched, it is unable to absorb much of the storm water, which will run off into the rivers before reaching the Mediterranean. – Reuters/AP
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