Catania was under water in the last hours as heavy rains hit the island of Sicily and the south of Italy.

Malta has also been battered by heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that the body of a 67-year-old man who was caught up in flash floods on Sunday in Scordia has been found, firefighters said.

The man's 54-year wife is still missing and rescuers are searching for her.

The married couple got out of their Ford Fiesta car on Sunday when mud and floods inundated the town near Catania and they were swept away by the fury of the water, an eyewitness said.

Firefighters said Monday that they had carried out 580 rescues in the previous 24 hours in Sicily and Calabria.

Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia remained on alert in relation to the extreme weather, which caused rivers to burst their banks in the provinces of Trapani and Catania on Sunday, with torrential rain and high winds continuing to clobber the south.

Catania Mayor Salvo Pogliese has closed the city's schools, parks and cemeteries on Monday, ANSA reported.

Antonio Sanò, the director of the iLMeteo.it weather website, said Monday that the cyclone that has hit the south has strengthened and been upgraded to a Mediterranean hurricane, with winds of over 100 km/h.

He said the wave of bad weather is set to last all week.