With rivers bursting their banks, hundreds of homes were flooded in rural areas and many roads blocked. Divers were searching for a woman whose car veered into a river in the north of the country.

While disrupting the south, the rain was welcomed in the north where Albania's three main hydropower stations saw water levels rise after dipping dangerously low in November.

The country has suffered a month of half-day power cuts caused by a drought that stopped hydroelectric generators and insufficient imports to meet the seasonal rise in demand.