Italy floods: F1 grand prix cancelled and thousands evacuated following flooding and landslides

Areas of northern Italy have been hit hard by flooding and landslides after heavy rain this week.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, with many being rescued from rooftops.

Earlier this month the same area was hit by storms, and months of dry weather means the ground has not been able to absorb as much rain water as it normally should.

The Emilia Romagna F1 Grand Prix, due to go ahead this weekend, has been cancelled due to the weather.

These floods have been in northern Italy, with the area of Emilia-Romagna being hit particularly badly. It's south of Venice, and its regional capital is Bologna.

Fifteen rivers burst their banks - which means the water levels got so high that they could not be controlled.

The Italian government says rain is expected to continue in the area for the rest of Wednesday.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, and lots of buildings have been submerged in the water.

The flooding and heavy rain also lead to landslides across the area, cutting off several villages in the mountains.

Other communities have been cut off from each other due to a bridge collapsing that connected two towns. People have been warned to keep away from the dangerous area.

The F1 Grand Prix that was meant to happen this weekend in Imola, which has been badly impacted by the floods, has been cancelled.

Earlier this month, Emilia-Romagna was also hit by storms, and before that there were months of drought. This dried out and hardened the land, making it more difficult for water to be absorbed into the soil, and leading to more flooding.

This isn't the first time Italy has faced heavy flooding in the past few years.

2022 was Italy's hottest year on record, with environmental experts identifying more than 300 extreme weather events that year.

Click here to learn why higher temperatures lead to more extreme weather conditions like flooding.