At least 33 people have died and dozens are missing in the worst flooding Germany has seen in years following days of heavy rain that senior politicians have linked to climate change.
Twenty people died in and around the Rhine city of Cologne, with two of them drowning in their own flooded cellars.
Rivers burst their banks across large parts of western Germany and swept away houses standing in their path. Several towns, including Altena near Wuppertal, were cut off from the outside world, rail services were disrupted and mobile phone coverage was adversely affected across the region. Hospitals in the Rhine area towns of Leverkusen and Eschweiler had to be evacuated.