Death toll 'will rise dramatically'

Emergency workers on Portugal's island of Madeira are pressing on with rescue work after the flash flooding that killed at least 42 people.

But authorities are warning the toll will likely rise.

Troops and other rescue workers spent Sunday digging through mud-filled houses and streets after the flash floods' torrents of brown water swept some people to their death, demolished houses and overturned cars.

The government in Lisbon has rushed medical teams, rescue teams including divers and sniffer dogs and relief supplies to the Atlantic island.

National days of mourning

And the country's cabinet is expected to announce three days of national mourning at a special meeting Monday in Lisbon, government sources said.

Morgue pathologists on Madeira meanwhile sent a grim warning that more bodies would be found in the mud that swept people off their feet as they tried to escape.

"It is very probable that we will find more bodies," Mayor Miguel Albuquerque told reporters on Monday.

The heavy rains ended on Sunday, revealing scenes of devastation in the capital, Funchal, with cars overturned and roofs ripped off buildings.

International flights resume

Power and telephone lines were torn down but flights to the international airport restarted from the Portuguese mainland, 900 kilometres to the northeast.

The disruption to phone lines had made it difficult to establish how many people needed to be rescued because many of them just could not be contacted, said Madeira's social issues affairs secretary Francisco Ramos.

The regional government gave a new toll of at least 42 dead and more than 120 people injured, including a few British nationals.

Late on Sunday Britain's Foreign Office said one Briton was among those killed, the first confirmed death of a foreign national in the disaster.

A shopping centre in Funchal was completely destroyed and firefighters feared there were likely people trapped in an underground parking lot which was still under water.

Morgue set up in airport

A morgue has been set up at the airport, where one local official said they had not yet been able to identify all the bodies.

At the height of the storm, the authorities put out emergency messages urging people not to risk their lives by venturing out into the torrents of muddy water that poured down the hillsides and out of alleys.

Winds exceeding 100 kilometres an hour, high seas and blocked roads made rescue attempts even more dangerous for emergency services.

The mud filled some homes up to the second floor and the rescue teams from mainland Portugal were put to work clearing out the stricken buildings.