Chancellor Scholz to visit flood-hit areas in northern Germany

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to visit the flood-hit areas in the northern state of Lower Saxony today, local officials said on Sunday morning.

Scholz is set to travel to the town of Verden, some 94 kilometres north-west of Hanover, in the morning, the Lower Saxony state chancellery said.

He will be accompanied by state premier Stephan Weil and state Interior Minister Daniela Behrens.

For days, thousands of emergency forces have been battling the fallout from heavy rainfall in several parts of Germany. Areas in the states of Lower Saxony, southern Saxony-Anhalt on the border with Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia are particularly affected by flooding.

After the rainfall had recently eased slightly, meteorologists are expecting more rain over the next few days, leading to fears that river levels could rise again.

The authorities are particularly concerned about softened dykes.