Wetter weather across southern and central Europe

After a drier than normal summer, a wetter pattern is expected from the coming weekend into the next week across southern and central Europe.

Above normal rain amounts are forecast over France, southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, northern Italy and western Balkans.Local flash flooding events are possible above all over southern and eastern France.Yesterday southern France has again been hit with heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding after a similar deluge just days ago.

The equivalent of two months’ rain is said to have fallen in two hours in one area of Gard. No casualties have been reported following the downpours in the Gard region. But local authorities said the floods caused significant damage to homes and infrastructure across towns and villages between Nimes and Montpellier. Schools across the region were closed today as cleanup work started in some towns.

The flooding comes after a season of extreme weather that saw devastating wildfires near the French Riviera and around the Mediterranean, record-breaking flooding in Germany and Belgium and droughts or heatwaves in other areas around the world. Scientists say such events are expected but happen more frequently now as the planet is warming because of human-caused climate change.