The heavy rains wreaked havoc in Germany with 49 dead as torrents of water leaped towards towns and villages, inundating them, causing buildings to collapse and leaving residents stranded, according to CNN.

The catastrophic flood claimed six lives in Belgium and Luxembourg and Netherlands have also come under its effect.

In Germany's worst hit Rhineland-Palatinate state, 1,300 people are "assumed" missing in the district of Ahrweiler, the local government said, reported CNN

Flood water also devastated the North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland states of Germany.

"In some areas we have not seen this much rainfall in 100 years," Andreas Friedrich, a German weather service spokesman, told CNN.

He added that "in some areas we've seen more than double the amount of rainfall which has caused flooding and unfortunately some building structures to collapse."

Most parts of these states had 24-hour rainfall totals between 100 and 150 millimeters (3.9-5.9 inches), which represent more than a month's worth of rainfall in this region, said the report.

Cologne recorded 154 millimeters (6 inches) of rainfall in only 24 hours ending Thursday morning, which is nearly double its monthly average for July of 87 millimeters (3.45 inches).