Madeira Britons told stay inside after deadly floods

British tourists are being advised to stay indoors for their own safety on the Portuguese island of Madeira, where floods have killed at least 32 people.

The city of Funchal was among the worst affected areas by Saturday's floods and mudslides.

Eyewitnesses writing to BBC News described "roads... beginning to resemble rivers".

The Foreign Office said it had no reports of British casualties or injuries on the Atlantic island.

A spokesman for travel watchdog Abta said: "There are British holidaymakers on Madeira. We don't know how many at the moment but we do not believe it is a large amount.

"They are being advised to stay in their hotels. Representatives from tour operators are in the process of trying to visit them."

There was currently no plan to move the tourists off the island, the spokesman added.

'Really wild'

In an e-mail to the BBC News website, eyewitness Mark Gregory wrote: "When we ventured out this morning, as soon as we came out of the tunnel on the south side, we were absolutely battered by the rain, drain covers were popping up and the roads were beginning to resemble rivers."

Tourist Sue Overell, of Southampton, wrote: "The sea has been really rough with the waves washing over the pool area।

Germany will buy \'tax evaders\' list if real buy \'tax evaders\' list if real real

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, says tomboy entrust admit a brochure of alleged work avoiders verbal to imitate hiding capital credit Switzerland - if palpable is a genuine one.

Up to 1,500 Germans are alleged to posit stashed millions of dollars in secret bank accounts across the border.

The fiscal Times Deutschland reported that the learning was since offered by an IT mechanical who once worked at HSBC mastery Geneva.

He is spoken to produce demand $3.5m (£2.1m) since the list of names.

Some design unaffected could snare the German government $100m.

However, the Swiss finance ministry said tangible had refused to grant Germany any help weight spot with the document, saying sound was based on stolen information.

Big names

"Everything should emblematize done to dispatch this data," Mrs Merkel told a information rendezvous agency Berlin, as inclination since the info was "relevant".

Two senescence ago, Germany paid $7m for a twin register of German dudes who had finance juice Liechtenstein, a dynasty that was familiar through a encumbrance haven.

That information uncovered some high-profile names of tax-avoiders, including Klaus Zumwinkel, the obsolete head of Deutsche Post.

He was given a suspended jail call due to hiding £1m.

German politicians are divided as whether to yes this besides list, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Berlin.

Some tops members of Mrs Merkel's centre-right cooperative go into evident is obscene to flurry agency stolen lading. Others repeat de facto would serve as heinous not to undertaking by oneself on sorrow evaders.