Foreign Office warns UK tourists 'only way out is helicopter' with 'situation changing quickly'
UK tourists have been warned over travelling to the Czech Republic amid storms of huge proportions. The Foreign Office has sounded the alarm to Brits over the torrential downpours and dramatic shift in weather on the continent this week.
"Heavy rain and flooding are causing severe disruption, especially in Southern and Eastern parts of the country," the Foreign Office has warned. "Check local conditions before you travel and follow the instructions of the Czech authorities if you are in these areas."
The FCDO said: "They will tell you if they can help and what you need to do." The Czech police chief, Martin Vondrášek, told local radio a woman had drowned in a stream that overflowed its banks near Bruntál, a town of about 15,000 people.
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Martin spoke out on Sunday after the tragedy which unfolded in the north-east of the country. He warned seven more people were still unaccounted for, with tens of thousands evacuated as Storm Boris unleashed the worst flooding recorded in the region for more than two decades.
There are also weather and travel warnings for Poland, Austria and beyond. Police in the Czech Republic said four people were missing on Sunday. Three had been in a car that was swept into a river in the north-eastern town of Lipová-lázne.
And another man was missing after being swept away by floods in the south-east. “What you see here is worse than in 1997 and I don’t know what will happen because my house is under water and I don’t know if I will even return to it,” said Pavel Bily, a resident of Lipová-lázne.
In a message on X, Czech police urged people to heed evacuation warnings, adding: “Police and firefighters know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. The situation is changing quickly and we can’t be everywhere immediately.
"Within a few moments, the only way out could be by helicopter.”