Severe storms batter Italy and the Balkans again

The weather has not been too kind to Italy and the Balkans over the past few weeks, and the region has just seen yet another spell of torrential rain.

The autumnal downpours led to further floods and landslides across southern Italy on Wednesday. There has been an estimated $567m worth of damage from this latest storm alone.

The tiny Italian island of Ustica situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea recorded 52mm of rain on Wednesday. Capo Bellavista on nearby Sardinia reported 51mm in the same 24-hour spell.

Yet another clean-up operation is under way now with a number of rivers overflowing. Towns and villages have suffered extensive flooding in the process.

The weather is set to improve over the next few days as the heaviest rain makes its way east. Andravida, Greece had 16mm of rain in the first hours of Thursday morning.

Turkey is also to get a taste of what is to come, Balikesir in the west of the country recorded 51mm of rain in the same period, and there will be more to come over the next 24 hours.