Austria: Parts of Vienna under water after record rainfall - as cars swept through ski resort
"Heavy storms have done great damage in many parts of Austria," the country's chancellor Karl Nehammer says.
Sunday 18 August 2024 19:17, UK
Heavy rain in Austria has left parts of Vienna under water and caused severe damage in parts of the country.
Fast-moving torrents of muddy water swept cars through the ski resort of St Anton in western Austria.
A woman was dragged under a bus by the force of flooding in the Dobling area of Vienna.
She was reportedly taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Fire services in Austria's capital city were called out more than 450 times on Saturday amid the heavy rainfall.
"Heavy storms have done great damage in many parts of Austria," the country's chancellor Karl Nehammer said.
In Dobling, officials registered 110 litres of rain per square metre, which ORF Vienna meteorologist Kevin Hebenstreit said was a record for August rainfall in the city.
A large proportion of Vienna's average summer rainfall hit on Saturday in just one hour, according to weather data firm UBIMET.
Wildfires in Greece and Turkey
Elsewhere in Europe, wildfires have raged this summer, with Turkey and Greece battling dangerous fires this week.
In Turkey, high winds and warm temperatures exacerbated fires across the country that thousands of firefighters have fought to bring under control.
Meanwhile, wildfires in Greece gutted an area nearly twice the size of Manhattan.
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Tap hereSouthern Europe has been baked by successive heatwaves and low levels of rainfall this year, contributing to the tinderbox conditions.
A factory worker was killed in the fires in Greece as they swept through mountainous areas, not far from Athens.
Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes in Turkey, but there have been no reported casualties there.
Abdullah Ozata, a Turkish livestock farmer who survived fires that burned through where he lived, told Sky News: "It was beautiful but now it has turned into hell.
"A place like paradise turned into hell. You can see it all around."
Wildfires have also been seen in Madeira, Portugal.