Five people, including two children, died in Thursday as storms wreaked havoc in Austria, according to the country's news agency and officials.

Three people died due to a falling tree in Lower Austria state, news agency APA reported.

In the southern state of Carinthia, two children were killed and about a dozen other people injured at a small lake when the storm also uprooted several trees there, said Red Cross spokeswoman for the state Melanie Reiter.

Elsewhere in the region, roofs were blown off and other damage caused, she told AFP.

She said the children were estimated to be between five and eight years old.

Train traffic also came to a halt in Carinthia and neighbouring states because of the damages caused by the storms, according to rail operator OeBB.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and President Alexander Van der Bellen expressed their sympathies for the victims with Van der Bellen describing the children's deaths as an "immeasurable tragedy".

In June, an 82-year-old man died after landslides caused by heavy rains caused widespread damage, also in Carinthia state, which borders Italy and Slovenia.

Austria is currently experiencing a heatwave and authorities have warned of thunderstorms.

Experts say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

Two killed in Italy as storm lashes Tuscany
Rome (AFP) Aug 18, 2022 - Two people died Thursday as bad weather toppled trees and tore off roofs in Italy's Tuscany region, while in Venice strong winds caused fragments of St Mark's belltower to fall.

The civil protection agency prepared emergency accommodation in schools and gyms for those forced from their homes after violent winds and rains pummelled the area from the coast to tourist hotspot Florence, killing a man in Lucca and a woman in Carrara, the Tuscan region said.

Both were hit by falling trees, local media reports said.

Four people were injured by toppling trees at the seaside camping site of Marina di Massa, while four others were rushed to hospital in the mediaeval town of Barga after the car they were travelling in was hit by a torn-off roof, according to local news site Toscana in Diretta.

In a rare break from the searing heat, storms were felt across Italy this week.

High winds sweeping through St Mark's Square in Venice on Thursday dislodged fragments from its famous belltower, according to the AGI news agency.

The city of Milan meanwhile ordered public parks to be closed on Friday and urged residents to avoid leaving their cars under trees.

Experts say climate change driven by human activity is boosting the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.

Five dead after storms lash France's Corsica: police
Ajaccio, France (AFP) Aug 18, 2022 - Brutal storms with winds gusting up to 224 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour) left five people dead on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica early Thursday, including a 13-year-old girl who was killed when a tree fell onto her campground bungalow, authorities said.

It was the third day of intense rains across much of southern France that had produced flash floods and lightning, but left no casualties until now.

The girl was killed at a campground near Sagone, on the island's rugged western coast, where nine others were also injured, including one seriously, rescue workers told AFP.

At a nearby beach in Coggia, a 72-year-old woman died after the roof of a beachside hut was blown off and landed on the vehicle she was in, regional authorities said.

"I was woken around 7:30 am by a very huge storm" that knocked out both electricity and mobile phone networks, said Benjamin Roux, a 26-year-old tourist, at the beach near where the woman was killed.

He had been planning to go scuba diving, but instead helped the passengers of a boat who were sleeping aboard when it was suddenly thrown onto the shore by the choppy waves.

"They managed to get out without injuries, but they're just devastated," he told AFP.

Further north near the resort of Calvi, a 46-year-old Frenchman was also killed at a campground, and a 23-year-old Italian woman suffered serious injuries while camping nearby.

Maritime authorities later said a fisherman had died near Girolata, and a female kayaker near Erbalunga, north of Bastia.

"Several rescues of pleasure boats" were also undertaken near the capital Ajaccio, said Jean-Jacques Peraldi, head of the SDIS fire and rescue service.

Maritime authorities reported 60 to 70 sea rescue operations, mainly along the western coast that bore the brunt of the overnight storm, which the Meteo France weather service said was now moving towards Italy.

Authorities had urged people to avoid travel and take other precautions after storm alerts were issued Wednesday for several Mediterranean departments, but also along the Normandy coast and near the southeast city of Lyon.

Around 35,000 homes on Corsica remain without electricity, power provider EDF said.

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