More than 90 people have died after severe flooding in western Germany and Belgium, as rescuers continue to search for survivors.
At least 81 fatalities occurred in Germany, while there have been 12 deaths in Belgium, according to local media reports.
A total of 1,300 residents remain missing in the Ahrweiler district in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the district government said.
In the village of Schuld and elsewhere, houses were swept away after rivers burst their banks following days of extreme rainfall.
Speaking from Washington on Thursday, Angela Merkel expressed her sorrow at the events unfolding in her home country, calling it a day “characterised by fear, by despair, by suffering”.
Her potential successor as chancellor, Armin Laschet, the premier of the badly-affected state of North Rhine-Westphalia, blamed the climate crisis for the catastrophe.
“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.
Deaths have been reported in Belgium too, with the mayor of Liège ordering residents to evacuate their homes on Thursday. The Netherlands and Luxembourg have also been affected by severe flooding.
More torrential rain and further flooding is expected in Europe this week, meteorologists have said.
