Italy floods: Grandmother and baby missing in Tuscany as Veneto region declares state of emergency

Extreme weather continues to pummel northern Italy bringing storms and torrential rain. 

In Tuscany, the Sterza river burst its banks resulting in a flash flood that swept through a house being rented by tourists from Germany. 

Two members of the family - a grandmother and a 5-month-old child - are still missing.

In the northeastern region of Veneto, the regional president has declared a state of emergency following 48 hours of intense rainfall. 

It comes days after the Emilia Romagna region was struck by devastating flooding, with some areas submerged for the third time in just over a year. 

Scientists say climate change is a key factor in the intensity of the adverse weather. 

The elevated temperatures of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas have exacerbated the atmospheric blockage, where a weather phenomenon remains stalled over a region. 

Grandmother and 5-month-old baby missing in Tuscany floods

Italian firefighters continue to search for a grandmother and a 5-month-old child who were swept away by floods in Val di Cecina on Monday night. 

The rest of the family - a grandfather and the mother and father of the baby - have been rescued after they managed to cling to columns on the porch and nearby trees. 

The family are from Munich in Germany and had been holidaying in Tuscany for the previous 10 days. 

They had telephoned emergency services for help but were hampered by the language barrier and poor signal.

Italy’s Veneto region declares a state of emergency following 48 hours of flooding

The northeastern Veneto region has also been hit by flooding caused by intense rainfall. 

Regional president Luca Zaia announced on Tuesday that he had signed a new decree declaring a state of emergency in the Veneto. 

Over the previous 48 hours, extreme weather struck the provinces of Treviso, Padua, Vicenza, Verona and Venice.

Firefighters responded to 450 call-outs in areas where torrential rain caused rivers and canals to overflow flooding streets and the lower floors of houses and apartments. 

"Unfortunately, the phenomena are intensifying and are increasingly unpredictable,” Zaia said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We trust that this wave of bad weather has run out of steam but the technicians tell us that other phenomena are expected in the coming days."