(Bloomberg) -- Torrential rain, thunderstorms and flash floodsthat have inundated towns in southeastern Germany in recent daystook the death toll to at least eight as forecasters warned ofcontinuing severe weather spreading northward and westward intoFrance.

Five people drowned in the Rottal-Inn district in the state ofBavaria, where the river Inn, which crosses Switzerland, Austriaand Germany, burst its banks. Three people were found dead onWednesday evening in a flooded house in the townof Simbach am Inn, according to Bavarian police. Two otherbodies were recovered on Thursday in the same district. Severalpeople remain missing, according to state broadcaster BayerischerRundfunk.

“We mourn those for whom help came too late and who lost theirlives,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin. “My thoughtsare with the families who will have to contend with theselosses."

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Residents evacuate their home in Longjumeau, south of Paris,France Thursday June 2, 2016. Floods inundating parts of France andGermany have left five people dead and thousands trapped in homesor cars, as rivers have broken their banks from Paris to Bavaria.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Rescue effort

After first responders carried out rescue efforts, evacuatingpeople stranded in their homes and from schools cut off by thefloods, emergency personnel and volunteers got to work with thecleanup as mudslides and floods wrecked homes and buildings. Thedeluge has also wreaked havoc across swathes in the northwest andin the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia.

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Earlier in the week, heavy rain and flash floods killed threepeople in cities including Schwaebisch Gmuendin Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria’s western neighboring state.Residents in the city of Passau, situated at the confluence of theRiver Danube on the Austrian border, remain on tenterhooks as waterlevels approach highs. Train and road traffic was disrupted inseveral areas hit by the floods.

In Hamminkeln, in the Wesel district in Germany’s west close tothe Rhine and north of Duisburg, emergency personnel fought toprevent a dike from breaking, according to local media.

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A car is squeezed between houses after the small town washit by flooding in Simbach am Inn, Germany, Thursday, June 2, 2016.Several people have died. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Weather warnings

Germany’s DWD national weather service warned of more heavy rainand storms on Thursday moving over northern parts of the countryfrom east to west, causing sudden downpours, hail and squalls.Conditions may abate in southeastern regions, it said, adding thatthe severe weather will spread toward France overnight.

Paris is bracing for floods as severe weather alerts increasedfor large portions of the city center and northeastern areas,according to a flood bulletin published by the government at 10a.m. Five high schools were closed due to heavy rain whileemergency repairs were being conducted in five more, localauthorities said.

Alert levels may be raised in Paris to the second-highest fromthe third-highest, French Environment Minister Segolene Royal saidin a statement. Cities south of the capital are likely toexperience flooding as the River Seine exceeds five meters (16feet). A news conference on the situation is scheduled for 5 p.m.in Paris to provide an update.

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Wooden blocks lie on front of a store damaged by floods inSimbach am Inn, Germany, Thursday, June 2, 2016. Several peoplehave died in the flooding, which swept through the towns of Simbacham Inn and Triftern, while others have been reported missing. Thewaters have receded, and disaster relief crews were on the scenehelping to clear the wreckage, while helping to prepare for morepossible flooding. There are warnings of more storms in theforecast. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Rail disruptions

In the hardest-hit area of Seine-et-Marne, 3,000 people weretransfered to emergency housing and 300 more in the Yvelinesdistrict, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Rail traffic was disrupted on Thursday between the cities ofMetz and Luxembourg, in the east, as well as between Paris andMeudon, south of the capital, a spokeswoman for train operator SNCFsaid by telephone. SNCF also announced on the line’s Twitteraccount that Paris’s RER C trains would be halted by 4 p.m. aswater levels rose under Austerlitz bridge.

The A10 highway to the southwest and more than 20 roads werenorth of the city of Orleans were also cut off, while minordisruptions occurred on highways A71 and A85, operator Vinci saidin a statement.

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A playground and a pool is flooded by mud and water afterthe small town was hit by flooding in Simbach am Inn, Germany,Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/MatthiasSchrader)

Cars emerge in a flooded parking in Souppes Sur Loing, 60miles south of Paris, Thursday, June 2, 2016. Floods inundatingparts of France and Germany have left five people reported dead andthousands trapped in homes or cars, as rivers have broken theirbanks from Paris to Bavaria. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A wooden house damaged by floods in Simbach am Inn, Germany,Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A car sits under wooden blocks in Simbach am Inn, Germany,Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Residents evacuate their home in Nemours, 50 miles south ofParis, Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/FrancoisMori)

People remove mud from a house damaged by floods in Simbacham Inn, Germany, Thursday, June 2, 2016. (APPhoto/Matthias Schrader)

Overflowing embankments are seen near the Eiffel Tower, inParis, Wednesday, June 1, 2016. Paris City Hall closed roads alongthe shore of the Seine from the southwest edge of the city to theneighborhood around the Eiffel Tower as the water level has risen4.3 meters (14 feet 1 inches) higher than usual. (AP Photo/ThibaultCamus)

Fire fighters and red cross employee carry a woman from herflooded home after the small town was hit by flooding in Simbach amInn, Germany, Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/MatthiasSchrader)

People remove mud from a bakery damaged by floods in Simbacham Inn, Germany, Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/MatthiasSchrader)

Cars float in the flood waters in Simbach am Inn, Germany,Thursday, June 2, 2016. (AP Photo/MatthiasSchrader)

A woman tries to find a way out in a flooded street downtownLongjumeau, south of Paris, Thursday, June 2, 2016. (APPhoto/Francois Mori)

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