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Torrential rain has triggered landslides and flooding in northern Italy, turning roads into rivers and sending mounds of debris into Lake Como.    

Footage showed brown water gushing down the streets of a village on the lake's southwestern tip after heavy rains through the night and into Tuesday. 

There were landslides along Lake Como's in Valle d'Intelvi, Brienno and Argegno, with reports of others along the eastern shore, and islands of wood and debris formed along the shoreline between Cernobbio and Como.

Several villages were left isolated after the heavy rainfall blocked off roads or caused them to collapse, while damaged cars, some overturned, were seen strewn across streets. 

Lake Como was filled with trees and floating debris on Tuesday after heavy rainfall caused flooding in towns on its shores

Torrential rain has triggered landslides and flooding in northern Italy, turning roads into rivers and sending mounds of debris into Lake Como

The rainfall caused tributaries to swell dangerously, sending water and mud rushing down the mountains into the lake, causing landslides

People work after a landslide hit a house after heavy rain caused flooding in Laglio, a town on the shore of Lake Como in northern Italy

Torrential rain has triggered landslides and flooding in northern Italy, turning roads into rivers and sending mounds of debris into Lake Como

The rainfall caused tributaries to swell dangerously, sending water rushing down the mountains into the lake and causing widespread damage

Footage showed brown water gushing down the streets of a village on the lake's southwestern tip after heavy rains through the night and into Tuesday

Villages around northern Italy's Lake Como saw heavy flooding following days of heavy rainfall, videos showed the torrential downpours

The situation remained precarious in Blevio on Tuesday and residents in Lezzeno were evacuated as a precaution. 

The Breggia stream, which flows into Lake Como at Cernobbio, was being monitored. There have not yet been reports of any causalities.  

Several villages not on the lake's shores also experienced heavy flooding, among them Dizzasco 50km from Como. 

It is the latest extreme weather to hit Europe, just two weeks after at least 196 people were killed in heavy flooding in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and left a trail of destruction expected to cost billions of euros to repair.

The flooding has caused widespread damage to villages on the shores of Lake Como and landslides have caused piles of debris to litter the ground near Laglio

Cars damaged by a landslide are seen after heavy rain caused flooding in towns surrounding Lake Como in northern Italy

People look on as firefighters remove debris from a landslide after heavy rain caused flooding in towns surrounding Lake Como

Firefighters have started the clear up in towns around Lake Como in northern Italy that were hit by heavy flooding following days of rainfall

Tree trunks and debris surround boats after heavy rain caused flooding in towns surrounding Lake Como in northern Italy

Boats floated among trees and debris on Tuesday after heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in villages on the shores of Lake Como

The situation remained precarious in Blevio on Tuesday and residents in Lezzeno were evacuated as a precaution

There were landslides along Lake Como's in Valle d'Intelvi, Brienno and Argegno, with reports of others along the eastern shore

The Breggia stream, which flows into Lake Como at Cernobbio, (pictured) was being monitored. There have not yet been reports of any causalities

It comes after hailstones the size of tennis balls temporarily closed a highway in northern Italy and damaged dozens of cars on Tuesday.  

Video of a severe hailstorm near the northern city of Modena on Monday showed cars with windshields shattered by the hailstones pulled over on the side of a highway as stunned drivers and passengers surveyed the damage.

While hailstorms are a common summer feature in Italy's Po River Valley, meteorologist Luca Lombroso told the Bologna daily, il Resto di Carlino, that the strength and frequency of hailstorms this year has made the phenomenon 'unusual.'

Agricultural lobby Coldiretti said its analysis shows that hailstorms are occurring at the rate of 11 a day this summer, with 386 recorded so far this year. That compares with a few dozen a year up to six years ago, a rate that grew to 92 in 2018 and 198 in 2019.

'The dimension of the hailstones also has changed, growing considerably in the last years with the real ice blocks falling from the sky even bigger than tennis balls,' Coldiretti said.

Hailstorms can wipe out entire fields or orchards of vegetable and fruit. Coldiretti attributes a 40 per cent drop in peach and apricot harvests and a 50 per cent drop in nectarines to 'this crazy climate.'