Europe's warm weather chaos

The French town of Redon saw record flood levels

Two people have died and several are missing after heavy snowfalls and avalanches caused havoc in the Alps over the weekend.

The Swiss canton of Graubuenden was badly hit by snowfalls

And one man was reported missing on the French Atlantic coast, as much of the country's north was engulfed by record floods.

Metereologists blamed unusually mild winter weather for both phenomena.

The bodies of two Italian hikers were found in northern Italy on Sunday, after a rise in temperature turned the glacier they were walking on into a swamp.

And rescue teams are searching for the owners of two cars swept away in an avalanche in the Julia Pass in the south-eastern Swiss canton of Graubuenden.

Witnesses say up to five metres of snow fell over an area of around 400 square metres, burying the vehicles.

Bad weather has hampered the rescue operation. Paramedics and doctors are at the scene but helicopters have been unable to land.

The whole area bordering northern Italy is on high avalanche alert.

Deluge returns

Flood waters were at record levels in the town of Redon in the French north-western region of Brittany, reaching 5.4 metres early on Sunday.

We can't build a Great Wall of China around Redon

Redon town mayor

The town was badly hit by flooding just a month ago.

Reuters news agency quoted Redon mayor Alain Madelin as saying that there was little to be done to prevent the floods.

"We can't build a Great Wall of China around Redon," he said.

Other northern French towns like Quimper and Caen saw record flood levels subside.

But Reuters reported that a 20-year-old man was missing near Lorient, Brittany, after a van he was travelling in was swept away by flood waters.