TERRIFYING footage shows flash floods ripping through towns in northwestern Italy.
Franco Chiaffrino, a 70-year-old fruit seller, was killed after he was hit by a torrent of water while getting out of his van in an alpine town, local media reported.
Flash floods in northwestern Italy left one dead and over a dozen trapped[/caption]
Shocking videos showed churning black water surging down the waterway.
Torrential rain caused the Frejus waterway to break its banks – unleashing a violent flood across the region.
Rescuers are seen looking on helplessly as entire streets are flooded in the mudwaters.
Residents were warned by the mayor to stay in their homes and avoid driving.
Firefighters rescued at least 10 people trapped in buildings by the floods, along with a few people stuck in their cars, local media reported.
Alberto Cirio, President of the Piedmont Region, said on social media: “Today a water bomb hit the town of Bardonecchia suddenly, causing damage and unfortunately a victim.”
The 70-year-old resident was killed in Bardonecchia – a resort town 56 miles west of Turin, which hosted snowboarding events during the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Cirio added: “We are increasingly faced with emergency situations due to weather events that we used to call exceptional but are now more and more frequent.”
A similar disaster struck Bardonecchia in 2023 after heavy rains caused two streams, including the Frejus, to overflow.
A major landslide swept away cars and debris, but no casualties were reported.
The heavy rains in northwestern Italy come as extreme weather has gripped much of Europe – from thunderstorms in the continent’s central countries to scorching heat in the Mediterranean.
In France, at least two people – including a child – died after a violent storm caused flash floods in Paris last week.
According to Lightning Maps, a weather-tracking website, more than 39,000 lightning strikes were recorded across France.
Over 100,000 homes were left in the dark after power lines were ripped down and metro stations were turned into indoor rivers.
The Frejus also overflowed in August 2023[/caption]
Streets were submerged in dirty water[/caption]
Heavy storms also swept across large parts of Germany over the weekend, hitting regions including Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Lightning strikes also caused fires, including one at a horse farm in Keltern, German Bavarian newspaper Münchner Merkur reports.
In Austria, a supercell storm whipped through towns, shattering windows, flooding streets and causing nearly £8m worth of damage to agriculture.
The hardest-hit regions were reportedly Styria, Tyrol, and Lower Austria.
Meanwhile, Greece, Spain and Italy are in the grip of a heatwave, with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.
Wildfires raged for three days on the Greek island of Chios last week – before being brought under control on Thursday.
Another wildfire broke out that same day on coastal area of Palaia Fokaia, south of Athens.
A motorway in northern Italy was closed on Thursday as temperatures caused roads to melt, local media reports.
A freak build-up of heat in the North Atlantic is believed to be driving the unusually high temperatures sweeping across Europe – well above the seasonal average.
Scientists say that climate change is fuelling extreme weather events.
