At least 68 people have died and at least 70 are missing after torrential rain triggered some of Europe's deadliest flooding in years - with homes and cars swept away in Germany and parts of Belgium.
Hardest-hit was western Germany where at least 45 people were killed, spread across its most-populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia and neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate.
The town of Schuld, south of Bonn, was particularly badly affected - with at least 18 killed there and in the nearby town of Ahrweiler with dozens missing when the Ahr river burst its banks and swept away homes even as people sheltered on their rooftops.
Fifteen people also died in the Euskirchen region while two firefighters were killed elsewhere during rescue efforts, with 300 soldiers deployed to help rescue teams today along with helicopters and inflatable boats.
Malu Dreyer, premier of Rhineland-Palatinate state, described the situation as 'a catastrophe', adding: 'There are dead, missing and many still in danger. Our emergency services are in action... and risking their own lives.'
It marks Germany's deadliest flooding in decades - the closest comparable tragedy struck in 2002 when 21 died in the country, with more than 100 killed in Europe as a whole.
German authorities estimate at least 60 people died in the floods and Belgian media reported eight deaths in the country including two men who were swept away in the flooding while a 15-year-old girl was also reported missing. Ten houses collapsed near Verviers after the river Vesdre flooded, with residents evacuated from more than 1,000 homes.
Belgian authorities also ordered those living along the waterfront in Liege to evacuate as water levels rose.
'We have rarely experienced such intense flooding. You have to go back to 1998 to have experienced this,' mayor of nearby Chaudefontaine Daniel Bacquelaine told RTL radio.
Residents of South Limburg, in the Netherlands, also had to be evacuated after flooding there overnight, though no casualties were reported.
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