Swansea man devastated by German floods fears more extreme weather could hit other parts of Europe

A man from Swansea living in Germany has described the devastation caused by severe flooding as 'terrifying' and fears extreme weather could strike closer to home.

Over the past two weeks, more than 190 people have died in the floods, caused by days of heavy rain with searches still underway for missing people.

Alan Davies has been living in Germany for four years, and six months ago, he bought a house in Odendorf, near Euskirchen with his partner.

  • Watch: ITV News Europe Editor James Mates reports on the days of devastation caused by surging flood waters in Europe

The 28-year-old said he noticed weather events becoming "more extreme" and are happening "more and more often" since moving from Wales.

He said the contrast between the recent floods and the extreme heat and droughts Germany has seen over the last two years has been "scary" to experience first-hand.

"In Cologne, it was 42C, it was very hot, everything dried out, all the grass and trees started to die. Quite a contrast to this week, with all the rain that fell," he said.

The events of the night of the flood were "shocking", he added.

Alan said main roads in the village have been "torn away", bridges destroyed and cars piled up on top of each other on train tracks.

"There's a small stream opposite my house and normally there are only a few centimetres of water in it. After half an hour it had risen to about five metres of water."

"As I got home I watched the stream water rising continuously, and shortly after that it started to flood over the walls."

"The streets filled with water within half an hour. We tried to save as much stuff from the cellar which had filled up incredibly quickly, it came up through the drains", he added.

"It got to a point where we had to get out of the cellar and find somewhere safe.

"The amount of rain that fell was more than two months worth of rain in less than a day, like a bathtub every square meter."

Alan and his partner tried to salvage what they could before their cellar completely flooded. Credit: Alan Davies

"That was terrifying. There was no electricity, no phone signal and no emergency services for a number of hours."

Alan said 18 people in his village died during the floods but added he was surprised by the "incredible" generosity of strangers when about 25 people came to help him clean out his cellar.

Thousands of people in Western Germany, eastern Belgium and the Netherlands were made homeless after so many buildings were destroyed or deemed to be at risk.

After Alan put a call out to the local community he was amazed by the kindness and generosity of people willing to help him with the damage. Credit: Alan Davies

It was then followed by major flooding in London and the South of England over the weekend which flooded homes, roads and London underground stations.

Alan said people living in the UK should recognise that "Germany is not very far away" and said it is his view that the next weather disaster is "probably only around the corner".

"It could be in England or in Wales, places you expect it not to happen.

"I know the weather has been very hot in Wales recently, but I think since leaving Wales, the climate is rapidly changing, more so in Europe because of the weather patterns - and extreme events are happening more often.'

"I think climate change is a very real thing and it's already here. I think the worst thing is that we've ignored it for a very long time.

"I hope it's not too late to do something about it."