RESCUE workers airlifted residents from a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital yesterday as large swathes of central and southern Europe remained underwater and the death toll from flooding rose to 42.

FLOODING in Romania has killed 66 people this year and caused more than €1.5 billion in damage as rising waters smashed dams, swept away roads and collapsed bridges, Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said.

Rescue workers airlifted residents from a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital today as large swathes of central and southern Europe remained underwater and the death toll from flooding rose to 42.

Fouling traffic and tempers, heavy snow fell today on much of Europe that had been deprived of anything more than a dusting for weeks, giving Rome a rare winter blanket and shutting down the main airport in Montenegro.