Swaths of Europe have been battered by deadly extreme weather, as rivers threaten to burst their banks in central Europe following torrential rainfall, and wildfires tear through Portugal.

Volunteers and emergency workers raced to secure river banks in Poland's historic city of Wroclaw on Tuesday, as nearby municipalities advised residents to evacuate and authorities across central Europe tallied the cost of floods that have wreaked havoc and killed at least 22 people.

Soldiers and residents in southwestern Poland are laying sandbags near swollen rivers around the city of Wroclaw to protect homes and businesses after days of flooding across Central Europe.

Soldiers have dropped sandbags from military helicopters to reinforce river embankments and evacuated residents as the worst flooding in years spreads across Central Europe

By Janis Laizans and Radovan Stoklasa NYSA, Poland/OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) -Poland's historic city of Wroclaw readied buses for possible evacuations on Tuesday and the zoo called for volunteers to protect animals from rising water as the death toll in three days of devastating floods across central Europe rose to 21.

The Polish city of Wroclaw and the German city of Dresden have begun preparations for flooding following a weather disaster that has killed 20 people. DW has the latest.

The mayor of Nysa, Poland, has urged all 44,000 residents to evacuate as severe floods have been battering central Europe over the past few days. Mayor Kolbiarz wrote: "Please evacuate your belongings,