Germany and France remain on high flood alert

In Germany, the Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Lower Saxony regions are particularly affected.

In many places, the dykes - thick walls built to stop water flooding onto very low-lying land from a river or from the sea - are already dangerously soaked.

The situation is particularly critical in Oldenburg, where the flooding of the River Hunte is threatening parts of the city. The excessive rain has heightened the risk of dykes softening and becoming unstable.

Meanwhile, in France, ten departments in the west and north of the country are still under flood alert.

For some, the situation is an unpleasant case of déja-vu. For the second time in two months, the department of Pas-de-Calais is on red alert, meaning there is a risk to life due to flooding. The first, back in November, residents of Blendecques, near Saint-Omer, had to evacuate their homes after heavy rainfall and the overflow of an arm of the river Aa, which crosses the town.

The villages of Bourthes and Lumbres in the same department also suffered unprecedented flooding.

Heavy showers overnight have also caused the Lys and Hem rivers to burst their banks.

Between 15 and 30 millimeters of rain expected in the department over the next few hours. According to Météo France, the peak of these floods has not yet been reached in Pas-de-Calais.