Nine people have died after deadly storms and historic levels of rain drenched parts of Greece, Italy and France, leading to major floods, landslides and road destruction.

Key points: Four people died in Greece in the eastern Aegean Sea islands after the deadly storm

Four people died in Greece in the eastern Aegean Sea islands after the deadly storm As heavy rain slammed the Riviera coasts of France and Italy, five people died trapped in cars

As heavy rain slammed the Riviera coasts of France and Italy, five people died trapped in cars A 30-metre section of the highway along a viaduct near Savona in Italy also collapsed in the rainstorms

While the wild weather led to a highway bridge collapse in northern Italy, the Guardian reported that Greek media "described the storm as leaving a trail of biblical destruction in some areas of the country".

Greek state television said four people died as storms lashed through parts of the country.

Broadcaster ERT TV said that two deaths happened in the eastern Aegean Sea islands, including an elderly woman found dead after her basement flooded on Rhodes and a woman who drowned after going for a swim in bad weather on Kos.

Dimitris Siskos inside his destroyed shop after storms hit the village of Kineta in Greece. ( AP: Petros Giannakouris )

Greek authorities said two bodies of men believed to be tourists were recovered near the port of Antirio, 250 kilometres west of Athens after a sailboat they were using was caught in the severe weather.

The worst flooding occurred at the seaside resort of Kineta, where mudslides came from a nearby fire-damaged hillside.

Several dozen people trapped in their cars and in flooded homes were rescued by the Fire Service.

People inspect a damaged road in Kineta in Greece. ( AP: Petros Giannakouris )

Storms of 'historic intensity' hit Riviera coast

As heavy rain slammed the Riviera coasts of France and Italy, five people died, while many travellers were trapped in their cars, according to officials.

The administration for France's Var region, between Marseille and Nice, said four people died, including a couple in their 70s from the perfume capital of Grasse whose car got submerged.

Rescue workers search the flooded streets of Roquebrune-sur-Argens in southern France. ( (Pompiers du Var via AP) )

Another died after a French rescue boat sank in the Mediterranean and another was found dead in a car.

The Alpes-Maritimes and Var regions have, since Friday (local times), been hit by torrential rainstorms that also caused huge waves in seaside areas.

The senior official for the Var region, Jean-Luc Videlaine, said the rains had been of "historic" intensity, adding that the damage will be "considerable".

He said that water levels were now going down but added that the situation was "far from returning to normal".

In some areas of the Var region, the equivalent of two or three months of rain fell in just 24 or 48 hours.

Water reached the houses after the Ticino river overflowed its banks in Pavia in Italy, near Milan. ( AP: Antonio Calanni )

In northern Italy, a woman was found dead after the Bomida river swept away her car.

Rescuers are also searching for possible victims after a landslide caused the collapse of a stretch of an elevated highway near the flooded city of Savona.

A tractor abandoned in a flooded area after heavy rains in Roquebrune-sur-Argens in southern France. ( AFP: Valery Hache )

A 30-metre section of the highway along a viaduct near Savona, west of Genoa, collapsed, leaving cars perched perilously on a precipice.

Drone footage taken by firefighters on Monday (local time) showed the extent of the damage where the raised part of the A6 highway had dropped onto a wooded area of the Liguria region.

Firefighters work in the area where a stretch of the Turin to Savona A6 highway collapsed following heavy rains. ( Vigili del Fuoco via AP )

Firefighters were using dogs to sniff out any possible victims in 2-metre high debris of mud, Liguria Governor Giovanni Toti said.

ABC, wires