OVER SIXTY PEOPLE DEAD AND MANY MORE ARE MISSING FOLLOWING SEVERE FLOODS IN WESTERN GERMANY.

Police say at least Sixty people have died and many more are missing following severe floods in Western Germany.

The worst of the flooding has been in the states of Rhoneland-Palatinata and North Rhine-Westphalia, where buildings and cars have been washed away.

According to reports two people also died in neighbhouring Belgium, while the Netherlands has also been badly hit.

It follows record rainfall in parts of Western Europe that has cause major rivers to burst their banks.

Chancellor Angela Merkel who is in the US ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden said she was shocked by the disaster.