Devastating floods in Germany and Belgium kill dozens

Latest news from this morning’s Telegraph:

GERMANY | Catastrophic scenes are unfolding across western Europe following the region's worst flooding in decades.

Houses torn apart, roads ripped up, whole villages reduced to debris. The “flood of death” stuck suddenly and has so far killed more than 100 in Germany and Belgium.

Those who managed to get to safety have had to be rescued by helicopter from rooftops or are facing electricity cuts and a lack of drinkable water.

The carnage caused by the record rainfall has been especially bad in western Germany, where more than 90 people are now confirmed to have died and at least 1,300 people are still missing.

Among the heartbreaking stories to emerge was that of 12 residents in a disability care facility in Sinzig who drowned when they became trapped overnight.

It’s the country’s worst mass loss of life in years and has quickly put climate change at the top of the agenda ahead of September’s election. That could spell trouble for Angela Merkel’s CDU party as they face off against the Greens.

Heavy rains are now spreading into northern France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and parts of Switzerland.

So what’s behind this unprecedented bad weather? Meet “Bernd”, a low-pressure vortex that’s been circling over Europe – and is still hemmed in.