Italy: Storms: Two holidaymakers die after being struck by lightning, bringing the death toll to 20

Two holidaymakers were killed after being struck by lightning during the storm that devastated Italy, bringing the death toll to 20 today, according to the country 's civil protection agency.

An 87-year-old woman and a 62-year-old German tourist died after being struck by lightning from the island of Sardinia.

Most of the victims of the storm had died from fallen trees, with strong winds having destroyed about 14 million trees, according to Coldiretti – the association of Italian agricultural societies.

A spokesman for Coldiretti said: "It will take at least a century to return to normal."

Italian meteorologists have predicted new rain and wind rains this weekend.

Areas from the far north-east to Sicily in the south-west have been affected, with the most serious damage being caused in the northern regions of Trentino and Veneto – the region around Venice – where villages and roads were cut by landslides.

Many of Venice's squares and pedestrian walkways have been submerged during the most severe floods that the canal city has seen in a decade.

The governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia, said that the damage caused by the storm in the region amounted to at least one billion euros (1.1 billion dollars).

Angelo Borrelli, head of the civil protection agency, said that Veneto had seen winds of up to 180 km / h (112 mph), and that the situation was "apocalyptic".

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was scheduled to visit the region on Sunday.

The region of Veneto has been described as the consequence of an earthquake by its governor, Luca Zaia. He told the Guardian: "Thousands of acres of forest have been razed as by an electric saw."

He added that 160,000 people in the region had more electricity, adding that parts of the Dolomites "were reduced to resembling the surface of the moon".

The weather has destroyed tens of hectares of forests, including the famous "Forest of Violin", devastated by winds reaching 120 km / h.

According to local media reports, nearly 200 people were stranded a few weeks ago at a hotel near the Stelvio Pass, in the mountains between Trentino (north-east of Italy) and Switzerland, in because of record snowfall.

Maurice Morsia, 61, of Rough Common, was one of 193 tourists and hotel staff members stranded when the snowstorm that killed 11 people struck.

Abundant snow and winds of more than 60 mph hit the area and cut it for four days.

He told KentOnline: "It was a bit like The Shining," he said. "It started to snow, then continued.

"It was not snowing day and night, we still had six feet of snow on our cars every day, and they had nothing like that for 30 years."