MORE than 80 people have died and hundreds more are missing after record floods hit western Germany.
This morning German media reported at least 81 people died due to the extreme weather.
The worst-hit areas are the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, bordering with Belgium, which also reported 11 deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged full support for those affected and expressed sympathy for the victims of the “catastrophe”.
Armin Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, attributed the disaster to climate change.
"We will be faced with such events over and over, and that means we need to speed up climate protection measures ... because climate change isn't confined to one state," he said.
These photos from @BezRegKoeln show the devastation caused by the torrential rain and #floods in #Germany, which reportedly killed dozens of people
— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) July 16, 2021
Our thoughts are with everyone affected
Fotos: Rhein-Erft municipality pic.twitter.com/MVLonIGVnb
Experts say that climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, but linking any single event to global warming is complicated.
The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland are also badly affected as record rainfall hit western Europe, causing rivers to burst their banks.
In the rural district of Ahrweiler, hundreds of people are unaccounted for and entire villages have been destroyed, German authorities said.
A spokeswoman for the local government said mobile networks had been put out of action, making it impossible to contact many people.
More torrential rain is expected across the region today.
Residents in the region told AFP news agency they were stunned by the disaster.
"Nobody was expecting this - where did all this rain come from? It's crazy," Annemarie Mueller, a 65-year-old resident of Mayen, said.
"It made such a loud noise and given how fast it came down we thought it would break the door down."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here