Five people died in Italy because of the floods and devastation caused by exceptional heavy rain.

Three people employees of Italian Energy Company ENEL got killed as the bridge they were travelling on collapsed under the pressure of the overflown waters of the Albegna River, next to Marsiliana d'Albegna, near Grosseto, Tuscany.

According to Italian Carabinieri they almost reached the bridge's end when the car they were on fell in the underlying river to be swallowed up by the mud.

The bodies of the three - two men and one woman - were recovered during the night.

The wave of bad weather and torrential rain that hit Tuscany and northeaster Italy had already caused other two victims.

In Tuscany a 73-year-old man died, as his car was wiped away by the Chiarone River waters and mud in near the town in Capalbio.

In the city of Ronchi, next to Massa a 79-year-old died of a heart attack after he went to check if his cellar had been flooded.

The Italian army has been sent to help population in the affected areas.

Hundreds people have been evacuated.

Parts of the highway connecting Milan to Rome have been closed due to flooding.

St Mark's Square was submerged, as heavy rains made Venice to experience the sixth-highest flood since the record was first kept 150 years ago.