Deadly floods in France and Italy

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Floods in France have claimed at least five lives including that of a mother and her two young children.

A car carrying the woman and her sons aged four and one was swept away from a rural bridge as river levels rose rapidly in the southern Languedoc-Roussillon region near Nimes. The boys’ father was rescued. He is in hospital in a state of shock.

Separately in the southeast, two other people died after their cars were caught in raging floodwaters.

The situation is no better in Italy where extreme weather has taken a heavy toll for weeks.

The north is the latest region to suffer with at least six people killed in recent days as floods and landslides wreak havoc.

A major search was launched near Genoa after a man was reported missing, his car swept away by a torrent. A body was later found.

Civil protection authorities have sent emergency teams with water pumps and earthmoving gear to Genoa but more heavy rain is forecast.