Seasonal rains have brought record-breaking wet weather to parts of Tanzania. The heavy downpours have led to widespread flooding, resulting in major travel disruptions.

Meteorologist Hellen Msemo reported that the worst of the flooding had occurred along Tanzania's northern coast. Much of the infrastructure has been damaged, and the main highway to the nation's largest city, Dar es Salaam, has been cut off from the north of the country.

The international airport at Dar es Salaam had 174mm of rain on Thursday. This was the heaviest October rainfall since records began in 1918. The October average is 69mm.

Many places in the region broke their 24 hour rainfall records. Kibaha had its wettest day in 53 years with 178mm of rain.

There have been many accidents and many roads will remain closed for some time. Dozens of homes and businesses have been submerged underwater because of swollen rivers and mudslides.