Thousands of residents of Nysa, in southern Poland, formed a human chain overnight to pass each other sandbags, building a wall along a river embankment to keep the raging waters at bay.

Volunteers in the Polish town of Nysa fortified floodwalls to stem swollen rivers on Tuesday after heavy rain and flooding round central Europe that has killed at least 18 people. Rivers were still spilling banks in the Czech Republic,

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.