The interior ministry announced on 3rd February that over 50,000 individuals had been displaced from their homes in northern Morocco following intense weather and heavy precipitation in the country in various provinces.

The evacuations started on Friday, largely in the province of Larache, where the city of Ksar El Kebir, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Tangier) has been subjected to massive flooding, the ministry reported.

The ministry reported that evacuees were partly accommodated by their kin in other places, whereas those who were in need of support were transferred to temporary shelters that were established by the authorities.

According to the national weather service of Morocco, there will be heavy rains, strong winds and snowfall in the altitudes above 1500 metres in the following several provinces between Monday and Wednesday.

The Moroccan military was sent to assist in the relief; officials asserted that King Mohammed VI had ordered the army to be deployed.

In sudden floods in Safi, Morocco, last December, 37 people died in the worst weather-related disaster in the last decade.

The past few weeks have seen some extreme weather and floods in neighbouring Algeria, killing two, including a child.

At least five people are dead, with others still missing, after Tunisia experienced the heaviest rainfall in the last 70 years last month.