Communications, electricity supplies and rail travel have also been badly affected by the severe weather, which has already claimed at least 10 lives in Bulgaria and Romania.

An 83-year-old man drowned in his flooded home in the southeastern village of Suha reka ("Dry river" in Bulgarian) as rivers in the region burst their banks and left dozens of houses and vast tracts of farmland under water.

The northeastern regions of Shumen, Targovishte and Popovo saw the worst of the violent weather and a state of emergency was declared on Monday.

Communications were down in the towns of Targovishte, Razgrad and Ruse, and many villages in the region remained without electricity.

The railway to the Black Sea port of Varna was closed after heavy rainfall cut it on Sunday and all train traffic in the northeast was cancelled Monday, Bulgarian railways announced.

Two trains remained blocked under water near Varna.

Storms also battered other parts of Bulgaria with 160 litres per square meter of rainfall in the southeastern town of Radnevo and a record 102 litres per square meter in Veliko Turnovo in the centre of the country.

Four houses collapsed early Monday in the southeastern town of Galabovo, BTA agency reported.

At least 10 people were killed and a baby was missing after violent storms brought flooding and lightning strikes to both Romania and Bulgaria over the weekend, local authorities and media reported on Sunday.