In Pictures: Deadly landslides hit Europe

Torrential rain has been pouring across central parts of Europe over the last few weeks.

France, Italy and Switzerland have all reported flooding, as two separate weather systems have slammed the area.

The first of these storms brought flooding to southern France on 4 November, and then spread east into Italy and Switzerland.

Shortly after this system cleared, another one spread into the area bringing yet more torrential downpours.

The ground was already saturated from the previous rain, and this second storm caused renewed flooding and triggered a number of landslides.

Over the last two days, Genoa in Italy reported 183mm of rain, and Robiei in Switzerland reported a staggering 300mm of rain in four days.

This is a vast amount of rain for a region which would generally expect around 120mm of rain in the entire month of November.

At least three people are now known to have died.

On Tuesday an elderly couple were buried under a mudslide which crushed their house in Liguria and a woman died of a heart attack after being trapped in her Tuscany home.

Another man in the northwest province of Biella in the Piedmont region was killed and another seriously injured when he was crushed by a landslide.

Some people are claiming that unauthorised building work, abandoned farmland and poorly planned infrastructure have exacerbated the risk of landslides in the region.

More heavy rain is expected in Italy over the next few days, with the heaviest expected in the northeast.