Heavy rain across Europe has left several areas flooded at major summer holiday hotspots. Heavy rain has hit Austria , France and Spain and a warning has now been issued for parts of Greece . It comes as a luxury sailboat carrying tourists - including some from the UK - has capsized and sunk off the coast of Sicily in bad weather that included water spouts.
One body has been found, six people were missing and 15 people were rescued, authorities said. The British-flagged, 56-metre Bayesian had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, representing British, American and Canadian nationalities, the Italian coast guard said. One body was found near the wreck, but six others were unaccounted for, said Luca Cari, a spokesperson for the Italian fire rescue service.
The boat capsized at around 5am on Monday morning off the port of Porticello. Local media said a fierce storm, including water spouts, had battered the area overnight but skies were clear and seas calm by Monday morning. On Thursday torrential rains across Spain’s Balearic islands flooded roads, forced people to evacuate and flights to be cancelled, with Spain’s emergency military unit saying it had been deployed to Mallorca to help with the situation.
Spanish national weather agency AEMET kept an orange alert on Thursday in the whole area due to the high risk of storms, having downgraded it from red earlier. The emergency services said they expected the worst of the storm to have passed, having urged people on Wednesday.