Cars are swept away as flash floods hit Italian holiday regions

Torrential rainfall and powerful winds from Storm Charles have battered Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria and Tuscany, unleashing severe flooding across the country's most popular holiday regions. All three regions were placed on red alert on Wednesday evening.

In the Tuscan town of Massa, the Frigido River burst its banks, forcing at least 100 people to evacuate their homes last night. Several residents were forced to sleep in the local sports hall overnight.

Footage from the village of Vezzano Ligure in Liguria showed flash floods sweeping cars away, with vehicles piling up as they were carried by the currents. In the city of La Spezia, water poured into a bus as it tried to navigate a flooded road.

The Regional Civil Protection Department in Tuscany has urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel and not attempt to cross flooded roads. Trains in the region were facing severe disruptions on Thursday morning, with several rail services cancelled due to the fear of landslides.

The national weather agency, IPMA, recorded wind gusts of over 75 mph in some areas, while on the Portuguese island of Madeira, gusts of 81mph were recorded. More than 200 flights out of Portugal were cancelled last night, while schools and hundreds of supermarkets and businesses were also forced to close.

Flooding was also reported in several areas, including road tunnels in Lisbon. Portugal's sunny Algarve region was on red alert on Wednesday, and the storm reached southwestern Spain on the same day.

The weather service AEMET warned of 'serious or very serious' impact from heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas in Spain, which could exacerbate conditions caused by Storm Bruna. Storm Charles also caused major rockfall in the French Riviera, forcing road closures near the town of Menton.

Météo-France has issued yellow warnings for rain and flooding until 8 pm, thunderstorms from midday to 6 pm, and coastal flooding from 2 pm in southern France.