At least 12 people have died in floods on the Italian island of Sicily.
It is believed the victims were members of two families staying together in a house that flooded after a river burst its banks near Palermo.
The floodwaters rose after fierce storms battered Italy.
The AFP news agency reports that children aged one, three and 15 were among those who died.
It said a man was also found dead in his car after the floods – while two more are still missing.
Roads, schools and public parks have been closed across Sicily due to the severe weather.
At least 29 people have died as a series of storms struck Northern Italy in recent days.
The city of Venice was hit particularly hard – with water rising to their highest levels since December 2008.
Meanwhile, trees covering the mountains in the Dolomites range were flattened by winds that tore through the Veneto region on Thursday.
Veneto governor Luca Zaia said: "It's like after an earthquake. Thousands of hectares of forest were razed to the ground, as if by a giant electric saw."
Italy's civil protection agency described the weather lashing the country this week as "one of the most complex meteorological situations of the past 50 to 60 years."
IRN
