German floods: Merkel visits disaster zone, pledging to step up climate action

Angela Merkel has promised quick financial aid for the parts of western Germany devastated by flooding and has vowed to step up efforts to tackle climate change.

The German chancellor visited a devastated village as the death toll from the flooding in Belgium and Germany climbed above 180.

The authorities expect that figure to rise with many people still missing.

The latest region to be hit by record rainfall and flooding last night was the Berchtesgadener Land district in Bavaria, close to Austria.

The worst hit is the Ahrweiler  district south of Cologne, along with North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland Palatinate states, leaving entire communities cut off and without electricity.

Our reporter Anja Popp is in western Germany for us now.