Image source, Reuters

We have been bringing you the latest news about deadly flooding and heavy rain impacting a number of countries in Europe.

• Dozens of people have been found dead in Germany, with many more still missing following severe overnight flooding in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, where buildings and cars have been washed away
• At least six people have died in neighbouring Belgium - with thousands of residents urged to evacuate areas including Maastricht and Liège over fresh flooding fears.
• There has been heavy rainfall in other parts of western Europe - with the Netherlands also badly hit and parts of France under weather warnings.
• The UK and EU have offered to aid in rescue and recovery efforts, with officials including German chancellor Angela Merkel describing the deadly flooding as a "catastrophe"

You can continue to get the latest updates on this developing story here.

Evacuation orders are in place for several towns.

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Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were pictured visiting those sheltering from deadly flooding on Thursday.

The royal couple visited a crisis centre in Chaudfontaine - where hundreds have evacuated.

Image source, EPA

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The mayor of the central Belgian city of Namur has now asked residents of some low-lying areas along the river banks to evacuate their homes, local media report.

Maxime Prévot warned that water levels in the Meuse and Sambre rivers would rise further in the coming hours, according to Sudinfo news agency.

He urged people to find an "alternative accommodation" for the night.

Namur has more than 110,000 residents.

The BBC's Anna Holligan, who is en route to the flood-affected Dutch region of Limburg near the German and Belgian borders, has tweeted these pictures of an elderly couple being evacuated by tractor in Valkenburg.

Image source, AFP

"Around 01:30 there was a huge bang that woke us all up - and then we saw the water come up from below," Julia Krätz, a resident of Heimersheim in the Ahrweiler district, said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, external.

Ms Krätz said she became panicked as the water rose overnight and at one point witnessed a family up to their chests in water being rescued by the fire brigade in a boat.

"We heard them crying out, 'Help, we're scared'. We were panicked because we didn't know how fast the water would rise," she said.

She said she and others had to watch helplessly as their cars were carried away and crushed together by floodwaters.

Ms Krätz told the newspaper they have been left without electricity, water and are still barricaded by flooding as firefighters and local farmers try to help.

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The Belgian city of Verviers, hit hard by flooding, will have a curfew in place overnight on Thursday.

Officials have imposed the curfew from 21:00 to 06:00 local time (19:00-04:00 GMT) after some reports of looting.

Meanwhile, residents of nearby Liège, Belgium's third-largest urban area, have been ordered to evacuate.

Those unable to leave should move to the upper floors of their buildings, mayor Christine Defraigne said.

At least six people are reported to have died in the country.

Residents of Merzbach in North Rhine-Westphalia were rescued by helicopter after floods devastated the area.

Here are some of the latest pictures from the affected areas in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Albert Aljili via REUTERS

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Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

Image source, EPA

Switzerland has been putting up flood barriers and trying to control the levels of its lakes and rivers for almost a week.

Today though, as the rain continues, lakes Lucerne, Thun, and Biel are all flooding. Over in Zurich the authorities say they still hope to avoid real damage, but the lake there is rising fast too.

The river Aare flows through the heart of the capital Bern, and residents have been warned to move their cars to higher ground, and their valuables to higher floors. In the floods of 2005, people in the lower part of town had to be rescued from their rooftops by helicopter.

The city zoo has been evacuated, but not before some of its occupants, who enjoyed an aviary next to the river, were washed away by the rising water. Zookeepers have now traveled 14km (8.6 miles) downriver to the lake of Wohlen, where their charges have, fortunately, been found safe and sound.

Some residents living in the Ruhr area of Germany have been told to boil their drinking water because of issues with filtration due to the flooding.

The Mülheim health department has told people in the city, Ratingen-Breitscheid as well as parts of Oberhausen and Bottrop to treat their water as a precaution.

"Serious changes in taste and smell are to be expected," water supplier RWW wrote on their website.

Residents have been told to boil the water for at least three minutes.

The BBC's producer and video journalist in Belgium, Bruno Boelpaep, has been sharing some dramatic footage of the flooding in Belgium on social media.

Nine regions of France have been put under an orange weather alert - urging residents to be very vigilant - because of the risk of flooding.

In a bulletin issued on Thursday afternoon, the French meteorological service warned that unusual heavy summer rainfall could hit already saturated ground.

Parts of northeast France facing fresh weather warnings have already experienced heavy rainfall in recent days.

A number of campsites in Meuse prefecture had to evacuate holidaymakers and damage has been reported there at museums and libraries, the L'Est Républicain newspaper reported on Thursday.

Martine Joly, mayor of Bar-le-Duc, said roads were impacted and firefighters were among those responding to disruption.

Image source, AFP

Authorities have said the number of deaths in northern Rhineland-Palatinate has risen to 19, bringing the total fatalities in Germany to 43. Dozens of people are still missing.

In Belgian, at least six people have lost their lives in the flooding.

Communities in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have been badly hit by floods.

It follows record rainfall in parts of western Europe that has caused major rivers to burst their banks.

The map above shows some of the most severely affected areas.

Image source, EPA

German survivors in the areas hit by deadly flooding have been speaking out about their experiences. In the town of Schuld, North Rhine-Westphalia, some homes were reduced to rubble in the deluge.

"It was catastrophic," Edgar Gillessen, 65, told the Reuters news agency.

"All these people living here, I know them all. I feel so sorry for them, they've lost everything. A friend had a workshop over there, nothing standing, the bakery, the butcher, it's all gone. It's scary. Unimaginable."

With many people trapped in their homes and dozens of others still missing, emergency services in Germany are continuing to carry out rescue operations.

In the Ehrang area of the city of Trier, where this video of firefighters helping stranded residents was taken, authorities successfully evacuated a local hospital.

But rescue efforts in some of the worst-hit areas may take longer.

This afternoon, local authorities announced a three-phase evacuation of residents still trapped in the municipality of Swisstal, beginning with helicopters and then using boats and eventually vehicles as the waters recede.

Those due to be evacuated have been told to prepare to spend up to four days in temporary accomodation and to bring only essential items with them.

Image source, EPA

Around 500 soldiers have been deployed to help the two worst-affected states, Germany's defence ministry announced on Thursday.

"Today we think of all those who have been affected by the storms and flooding," Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

Image source, AFP

Floodwater doesn't have to be deep to shift your car - one experiment found just 15 cm was needed to move the vehicle while 60 cm made it float away completely.

Motoring organisations advise against driving in to any moving floodwater.

if you needed proof here's what the waters did to cars in the Belgian city of Verviers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says many countries have offered support to those impacted by the deadly flooding.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union was "ready to help".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also offered UK support for rescue and recovery efforts, describing the flooding as "devastating".