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Some 600 people have been evacuated in the German city of Dresden as Central Europe floodwater continues to threaten parts of southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.
The level of the River Elbe in the historic German city is not expected to peak until Thursday morning.
Emergency workers have been shoring up a dyke under threat from high water in the Austrian city of Krems.
At least 12 people have died and two are missing as a result of the floods across the three countries.
Seven deaths were recorded in the Czech Republic and three in Germany, while two people were reported dead and two missing in Austria, according to a European Commission update early on Tuesday evening.
Parts of Germany have not seen such severe flooding in centuries. However, in the Czech Republic, the water level has stabilized in the capital Prague, where there had been fears of a repeat of disasters in 2002 and 1997.
Some 600 people have been evacuated in Dresden as floodwater continues to threaten parts of southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic
River levels rose after sudden heavy rain following a very wet spring, which had left the ground saturated and unable to absorb the extra water.
Six hundred people had to leave their homes in Dresden and electricity was turned off in some parts of the city, a city spokeswoman told the German news agency dpa.
In another eastern city, Halle, streets were under water on Wednesday morning. According to German news magazine Spiegel, it is the highest water level in the city in four centuries.
Meanwhile, the floods were receding in the south German city of Passau. People could be seen sweeping up muck from their streets.
In Krems, the Austrian authorities were making plans to evacuate villagers as a local dyke looked at risk of collapsing under the swollen Danube.
Thousands of people left their homes in the Czech Republic in recent days as floodwater threatened to overwhelm flood barriers.
In the low-lying industrial city of Usti nad Labem, the River Elbe was spilling over the 10 m-high (33 ft-high) metal flood barriers.
The peak there is expected some time on Wednesday.
The main rail link connecting Prague and Berlin in Germany has been underwater, with trains being diverted.
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Deadly flood waters continue to rise across central Europe and thousands of people have alredy fled their homes in the region.
Emergency operations are under way in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic to cope with river levels which have reached record heights in some places.
Landslides and flooding have led to the deaths of at least seven people. More than eight others are missing.
The German army has been drafted in to help reinforce flood defenses in the south and east of the country.
In the Czech Republic, a nationwide state of emergency is in force. Around 3,000 people have been forced to leave their homes across the west of the country.
The authorities in the capital, Prague, are on high alert amid fears that the River Vltava could swamp its historic centre. On Monday morning, the river was flowing at 2,800 cubic metres per second – 10 times its normal volume.
Thousands of people flee their homes as central Europe flood waters rise
As a precaution the city’s metro system has been closed, metal flood defenses are being erected and sandbags built up along the banks of the Vltava.
No major evacuations are planned in Prague, but tigers at the city’s zoo have been tranquilized and moved out of an enclosure thought to be at risk of flooding.
“The story is not yet over here,” warned Environment Minister Tomas Chalupa.
Although the Vltava was expected to rise again on Tuesday morning, officials said it was unlikely to reach the levels seen in 2002, the last time Europe saw similar floods.
Seventeen people were killed in the Czech Republic and the cost of the damage across the continent was estimated at 20 billion euros ($26 billion).
The destruction so far seen in the capital has been relatively minor compared to elsewhere. In southern and western areas of the country, several towns and villages are under water.
Main roads in many areas of central Europe have been closed and rail services cut. Thousands of homes are without power.
Czech police said on Monday that at least five people were now known to have died due to the flooding. Two people died after their cottage collapsed on Sunday, and three people had died in separate incidents across Bohemia. Several people are missing.
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At least 60 deaths are reported in eastern and central Europe due to freezing conditions caused by a cold snap over the last days.
Low temperatures, forcing some countries to deploy the army and set up emergency shelters, is set to continue to Friday, according to forecasters.
Most of the people – at least 30, mostly homeless – have died in Ukraine. Deaths have also been reported in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, among others.
Temperatures plunged to -20C (-4F) on Monday.
Health officials in Ukraine say nearly 24,000 people have sought refuge in some 1,590 shelters over the past three days.
More than 600 people have sought treatment for frostbite and hypothermia during this time.
The authorities say they are planning to set up 150 more centres, as heavy snow was forecast in the region on Wednesday.
The death toll in Poland over recent days rose to 21 on Tuesday. The Interior Affairs Ministry said some had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty heaters, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Poland had been having a relatively mild winter, until temperatures dropped last Friday from just below freezing to -26C (-15F).
Malgorzata Wozniak of Poland’s interior ministry said elderly people and the homeless were among the dead, AP reports.
Troops in Romania were deployed last week to rescue those stranded in cars by blizzards
Polish forecasters have warned that temperatures could fall further during the week, to below -20C during the day and -30C at night.
At least eight people have died in Romania and five in Bulgaria.
Troops in Romania were deployed last week to rescue those stranded in cars by blizzards.
In Serbia, police reported that the snowy conditions had led to the deaths of a woman and two elderly men. Two other men, in their 70’s, are believed to be missing in the south of the country.
Reports say there were also deaths in Lithuania, Bosnia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
