The Serbian capital Belgrade is braced for a river water surge that threatens to inundate the country’s main power plant and cause major power cuts, as the Balkans continue to struggle with the consequences of the worst flooding in south-eastern Europe in more than a century.

Six teenagers have died trying to escape a fire that engulfed a nightclub in northern Serbia, police said today.

Giant chunks of melting ice broke free on the River Danube in Serbia today, damaging hundreds of boats, sweeping away several barges and sinking one of Belgrade’s trademark floating nightclubs.

At least 11,000 villagers have been trapped by heavy snow and blizzards in Serbia’s mountains, authorities announced, as the death toll from Eastern Europe’s week-long deep freeze rose to 122.