Image source, EPA

Some southern parts of the Netherlands are already experiencing flooding, with further weather warnings issued.

The province of Limburg saw heavy rain overnight, with more than 400 homes left without electricity and major roads forced to close.

Caravans and tents at the De Hatenboer campsite in Roermond were pictured underwater on Thursday with emergency services having to intervene to help evacuate guests.

The Maas river is expected to hit a record high water level on Thursday, officials told local media, with some residents told to evacuate their homes.

A Dutch cabinet meeting will take place later to discuss the flooding.

Earlier we brought you the news there is an evacuation order in place in Liège. Here's what else has happened in Belgium:

• At least six people have died, including a 15-year-old girl who was swept away by floodwater
• Rising waters are threatening to cut off the small city of Valkenburg, west of Maastricht
• Conditions are so bad in the municipality of Trooz evacuation efforts have been halted
• The Infrabel rail network has suspended services to the south of the country
• Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called the situation “unprecedented”
• More rain is expected on Thursday

Image source, AFP

Image source, Reuters

Angela Merkel, who is on a visit to Washington DC, has been reacting further to the deadly flooding.

"Here in Washington, my thoughts are also always with the people in our homeland," she said, offering her condolences.

“We don't know the number yet, but there will be many - some in the basement of their houses, some as firefighters trying to get others to safety," Die Welt quoted her as saying. "And I extend my heartfelt condolences to their relatives. Everything will be done to find the people who are still missing."

The German chancellor said she was in close contact with the German interior and finance ministers about the support the federal government can provide.

Image source, Interior Ministry of Rhineland-Palatinate

Authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate, one of two German states badly affected by the flooding, have released this photo taken yesterday that shows the extent of the flooding in the village of Altenburg.

"It's a catastrophe," the state's president Malu Dreyer said of the situation in Rhineland-Palatinate.

"There are people dead, missing, and many who are still in danger. All emergency services are on duty around the clock and risking their own lives."

Image source, Reuters

Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, told the BBC that the scale of deaths reported from European flooding represented "a monumental failure of the system".

"The sight of people driving or wading through deep floodwater fills me with horror, as this is about the most dangerous thing you can do in a flood," she said.

"Forecasters could see this heavy rain coming and issued alerts early in the week, and yet the warnings were not taken seriously enough and preparations were inadequate."

Professor Cloke added that "these kind of high-energy, sudden summer torrents of rain" could become more common "in our rapidly heating climate".

As we've been reporting, senior German politicians and climate experts have been linking flooding in parts of Europe to climate change.

It is the kind of extreme weather event you would expect to see in a heating climate, they say.

Just last month, North America experienced its warmest June on record, according to the EU's Earth observation programme, while Europe recorded its second warmest June on record.

Climate experts say the findings point to a frightening escalation in temperature extremes.

"We are getting used to record high temperatures being recorded somewhere around the world every year now," says Prof Peter Stott of the UK Met Office.

Read more about the recent record temperatures from the BBC's Justin Rowlatt here.

Damien McGuinness
BBC News, Berlin

These are the worst floods to hit this part of western Germany in living memory.

Buildings collapsed and cars were swept away, as roads turned into raging rivers. Entire villages were evacuated. But some places were cut off, with dozens of people trapped on the roofs of their houses waiting for rescue.

Some 200,000 homes have lost electricity. And across Germany traffic and rail transport is heavily disrupted.

Over the past 24 hours this densely populated region saw record levels of rainfall. The heavy rain came after an unusually stormy summer, causing rivers to burst their banks. The rain has eased off here for now. But with so many missing, it’s also still an emergency situation.

More rain is expected in southern Germany later: with rivers at dangerously high levels, other regions are preparing for the worst.

Image source, AFP

Residents of the German town of Mayen, 40km (20 miles) south of the hardest-hit district of Arhweiler, have been expressing shock at the flash flooding impacting the region.

Annemarie Mueller, 65, told the AFP news agency that "nobody was expecting this" and spoke of fears floodwaters would break the door to her property down overnight.

Although the damage in Mayen was not as heavy as elsewhere, the small river that runs through the town broke its bank overnight and has flooded some local residences.

Another woman, Andrea Schaer, said she and other residents in her apartment building had to work together at about 02:00 local time (01:00 BST) to try and save a property on the ground floor.

"It happened quickly, in 20 minutes the whole cellar was full, so I was a bit scared," she told AFP.

Image source, EPA

At least six people have died in Belgium, where rivers in the French-speaking region of Wallonia have burst their banks.

According to Belgian news website RTBF, two people died in Liège province on Wednesday, while the bodies of four other people were found in the Verviers district to the east of Liège.

Image source, EPA

Several senior German politicians are blaming the deadly flooding on global warming.

Armin Laschet - the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia and a candidate to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel in elections later this year - said the flooding showed the "need to speed up climate protection measures".

German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze tweeted: "Climate change has arrived in Germany."

"These events show the force with which the consequences of climate change can affect us all, and how important it is to prepare even better for such extreme weather events in the future," she added.

Meanwhile Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told Bild newspaper that such extreme weather events were "the consequences of climate change" and also called for better preparation.

Experts say that climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, but linking any single event to global warming is complicated.

On Wednesday, the EU announced sweeping plans to fight climate change and achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

The flooding splintered roads, swallowed up vehicles and scattered debris across the streets. See more of the impact in our gallery.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

As we've been reporting, at least 42 people are confirmed to have died following flooding in western Germany.

The worst-affected district has been Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 18 people have died, while 15 others were killed in Euskirchen district.

Three deaths have been confirmed in the rural district of Rheinbach, while the city of Cologne has reported two deaths. Deaths have been reported in at least four other areas.

According to police, dozens of people are still missing.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "shocked" by the devastation. She's sent her condolences to the relatives of the dead and the missing.

Merkel is currently in Washington for a meeting with US President Joe Biden, the first European leader to be welcomed to the White House. But the meeting very much looks like it will be overshadowed by events back home.

The conservative candidate to succeed her, Armin Laschet who is currently leader of the flood-affected North Rhine-Westphalia state, has blamed global warming.

"We acknowledge these severe weather events and heat events. They are connected to climate change."

More torrential rain is expected from the low pressure system that brought Germany's devastating flooding as it continues its slow-moving track. Nick Miller reports

The flooding has badly hit several countries. In Belgium, at least six people have died.

In Liège - a city with a population of nearly 200,000 people - the mayor has asked people to evacuate, and for those who can’t leave to move to the upper floors of their buildings.

The Meuse river which flows through the city, is expected to rise by another 150 cm (59 inches) despite being on the verge of overflowing already and local authorities are concerned about the risk of collapse of a dam bridge in the area.

Image source, AFP

The flooding in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands follows record rainfall in parts of western Europe that has caused major rivers to burst their banks.

Record rainfall has hit western Europe causing severe flooding. Germany has been hardest hit, with more than forty people killed. Neighbouring Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium have all been inundated too. Many people are missing - and there's more rain forecast.

Follow our live page for the latest updates.

Image source, Getty Images