Heavy rain swelled rivers and flooded streets in Florence, with authorities issuing a red weather alert for the historic Italian city and its surroundings, urging residents to stay indoors.

Thunderstorms packing torrential rains triggered flooding across a number of Italian cities, disrupting flights and forcing the authorities to close schools, markets and other public areas.

Local authorities raised an extreme weather alert from orange to red in the cities of Florence, Prato, Pistoia and Pisa as torrential rain hit Tuscany on Friday. The regional government said the decision was taken by the operational committee of Tuscany's civil protection service after a meeting with the crisis unit.