Recent heavy rainfall across Germany increases risk of flooding

Recent heavy rainfall across much of Germany has increased the risk of flooding in several regions.

In the northern state of Lower Saxony, the third-highest of four warning levels was reached at 30 measuring stations early on Sunday, according to state authorities.

The threshold was exceeded by the rivers Weser, Aller, Leine and Oker, among others. At level three, flooding of properties and larger areas as well as roads and cellars is possible. The fire brigade and volunteers used sandbags to protect areas in several districts.

The emergency services secured transformer stations in the Rodenberg district east of Hanover, according to a dpa reporter present. Sirens sounded overnight to warn residents.

Local mayor Thomas Wolf said early on Sunday that the floodwater was flowing over the weir. Volunteers had run from house to house to warn residents. The municipality had not experienced a flood like this in 25 years, he said.

In the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, the flood forecasting centre issued warnings for the Mulde, Aller and Havel rivers.

The flood situation also worsened in parts of Saxony, with alert level 3 reached at several water gauges on Sunday morning, including in the city of Chemnitz.

On Saturday evening, the German weather service issued a warning for the states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Bavaria and Saxony due to the continuous rainfall.

"The persistent rain will continue until Monday, Christmas Day," it said.