Firefighters in northern Italy rescued three people from a flooded river over the weekend using ropes and planks while elsewhere 200 people had to be rescued when their cars got trapped on a snowy motorway.

The group of boys had to be rescued from a swollen river. The trio became trapped as they attempted to cross the Cornia River.

In a five-hour rescue mission, the firefighters created a bridge using a plank of wood and led the teenagers to safety with ropes.

Several regions in the country have faced extreme weather in recent days. 

Italy's A22 saw heavy snow on Saturday that paralysed traffic and created long queues of cars waiting to get to their destinations. Firefighters evacuated people who were sitting in their cars under freezing temperatures, said the spokesman.  No casualties were reported.  The bad weather caused several cars not prepared for winter to swerve, blocking traffic flow. 

An avalanche had also hit a part of that motorway on Saturday morning but luckily no vehicles were on its way.  A lot of cars were still trapped by Saturday night even though traffic started to circulate again in the afternoon.