Shropshire man caught up in severe France flooding
A man from Shropshire was one of 1,600 people evacuated due to severe flooding in Southern France.
The worst hit areas included Gard, Ardeche and Drome, where around 400 firefighters and police battled to make sure everyone is safe.
Disaster struck after almost 8cm of rain fell in 24 hours, according to the UK Met Office.
A 70-year-old German man, who was helping to supervise children at one of the summer camps, has been reported missing according to French police.
Trapped by a torrent of flood water, he had sought shelter inside his caravan, which was later found "empty and in pieces."
Harry Ollerton, from Shropshire, speaking to the BBC, said he was camping in the Ardeche region.
He said how he was woken by "the loudest thunder and brightest flashes of lighting" at 5am on Thursday morning.
Mr Ollerton said: "It didn't let up, the lightning was constant and terrifyingly close to our tent and campsite.
"It passed straight over us, knocking out the power to our pitch and our phone signal suddenly went dead.
"Village streets had turned into rivers and the rain was so hard that we could barely see out of the window."
One summer camp in the Gard region, saw 119 children evacuated to safety when disaster struck.
A fellow camper told French network BFMTV they could hear the children's cries, but were unable to reach them.
The storms which caused the floods came after a period of unusually hot weather in southern France and much of Europe.
"Some of the roads were so flooded that they were barely passable. We were lucky to make it out of the area, soaked through but unharmed, by the sound of things," added Mr Ollerton.
According to local police 10 people had been taken to hospital with hypothermia and minor injuries.
Divers have also been called to the region to help search for the missing German man.
UK Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said nearly 3in (7.6cm) of rain fell over the area in 24 hours.
"It's located in the area of hot weather that has been affecting much of Europe just recently, although there is a cold front moving south," he said.
"Where you have got cold air trying to come in, at the boundary the hot air rises quite quickly and creates these rain clouds.
"There are still storms around, although they are starting to ease a little bit."
He said parts parts of the Mediterranean could still see wet weather, with the Balearic islands and Sardinia at risk of heavy rain.
