Berlin - Weeks of heatwave and drought across much of the European continent gave way to heavy rains and winds on Friday.

Authorities in Germany warned of heavy rainfall in the south Friday and put air rescue services on high alert, after severe storms killed at least 12 people mostly from falling trees, in Italy and Austria, and on the French island of Corsica.

Boats were thrown onto the beach of Sagone in Coggia, Corsica. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who arrived in Corsica on Thursday, said 20 people had been injured - four of them seriously.

Almost 13,000 people were evacuated from several campsites on Thursday evening and sheltered in public buildings, ahead of more expected damage. But authorities said on Friday morning that the night had passed without any major incidents.

Extreme storms have become more frequent recently because of climate change.

Witnesses to the storms said they had been completely unexpected and no warning was given.

Two girls, ages 4 and 8, were killed when sudden strong winds toppled trees late Thursday at a lake in the Lavant Valley of southern Austria. Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen called the children’s deaths “an unfathomable tragedy.” The mayor of the nearby town of Wolfsberg, Hannes Primus, said the area looked “like a battlefield.”

Germany’s national weather service DWD warned of “extremely abundant, prolonged rain” along the edge of the Alps could drop as much as 140 liters of water per square meter (5.5 inches) over a 48-hour period that could cause flooding.

The Bavarian Red Cross said it was raising the alarm level for its air rescue specialists, putting helicopter crews on heightened alert.
-BBC/AP