Torrential rains, heavy storms hit northern Italy

A wave of violent storms and torrential rain has battered northern Italy, raising fears for the life of a man who was swept away on a tractor in the Piedmont region.

Footage by state TV RAI showed the wheel of the vehicle still visible inside the Orco creek, near Turin, where the tractor overturned in muddy water. Searches for the missing man, 58, were still under way on Thursday afternoon.

In Piedmont's Val di Susa, two bridges collapsed, isolating a total of about 50 people in two villages after another river overflowed, blocking a provincial road.

Two other northern regions, Lombardy and Veneto, were hit by widespread flooding which caused damage and disruption in the city of Milan, where the local Seveso and Lambro rivers overflowed.

Firefighters in Milan said they attended dozens of call-outs to rescue people stuck in their cars in flooded road underpasses and to drain basements filled with water.

Some subway services had to be suspended due to the flooding. For the first time since it was founded in 1976, Milan's Radio Popolare station went off air because its broadcast centre was inundated with water.

Scientists warn that the climate crisis is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts, downbursts and flooding, in Europe and around the globe. Storms are becoming heavier because warm air can hold more moisture.

Southern Italy has been recently suffering a severe drought, causing massive problems for local agriculture and tourism, especially in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.