At least six people have died after torrential rains in the Balkans caused flooding and prompted widespread evacuations, authorities said.

One of the hardest hit areas was in north-west Albania, where thousands of acres of agricultural land and hundreds of homes were flooded.

On Sunday, up to 400mm (14in) of torrential rain fell in 12 hours and caused the Drini River, the longest in Albania, to overflow its banks by at least 10cm (four inches), according to the authorities.

Early on Monday, the bodies of two missing men were recovered – a father and son whose car was washed away on Sunday in the village of Boge, some 90 miles north of the capital Tirana.

Flooding in Montenegro and parts of Serbia killed four people over the weekend.

A woman and her two children drowned in Montenegro when their car plunged into a river as it was going over a bridge.

While in southern Serbia, a two-year-old boy drowned after falling into a river.

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Authorities in the southern Serbian region of Raska declared a state of emergency and the army was deployed to help the with evacuations and delivering drinking water and food.

At least 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) of agricultural land was flooded in the Shkoder and Lezhe districts, some 60 miles northwest of Tirana.

Hundreds of troops were sent to evacuate families after more than 600 homes were flooded.

The historic 18th-century Lead Mosque in Shkoder was also underwater – after suffering damage from past floods.

Mayor Bardh Spahia said at the moment Shkoder is “isolated from the rest of the country”.

Farmers, who have repeatedly suffered from floods in the post-communist era, raised concerns about their losses and asked the government to help.

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Lina Zefi, 60, in Kuc village less than six miles from Shkoder said: “We need government assistance because damage from flooding is very, very grave.”

Flooding also affected areas in western Kosovo, causing some damage to buildings and school closures but no reported casualties.

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