Aid workers battled to evacuate people from flooded areas in southern Germany that have killed four people, as Chancellor Olaf Schulz called it a “warning” that climate change is getting worse.

Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in the regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg after heavy rain on Friday caused deadly flooding.

More evacuations were called overnight into Monday as large volumes of water failed to contain the flood defenses.

In Bavaria, around 800 people were told to leave their homes in the Ebenhausen-Werck region after a dam burst on Monday.

Residents around Manching Pachal, the area worst affected by the floods, were told to take shelter on the upper floors of their houses.

Speaking on a visit to Reichertshofen, a flood-prone area north of Munich, Schulz said such floods were no longer “once in a while”.

“This is an indication that there is something here. We must not ignore the task of stopping human-made climate change,” Schulz told reporters.

The prime minister of the Bavarian state, Markus Söder, who accompanied Schulz on his visit, said there was no “absolute insurance” against climate change.

About 20,000 people were deployed in Bavaria alone to deal with the aftermath of the floods, he said.

A man and a woman were found dead in the basement of their home in Schorndorf after flooding, police in Baden-Württemberg said on Monday.

The same happened to a 43-year-old woman in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, whose body was found by rescuers on Monday.

After the death of a volunteer firefighter whose body was found on Sunday.

The 42-year-old volunteer died when his boat capsized during a flood rescue operation.

Another volunteer, 22, was still missing after his boat capsized overnight on Sunday.

Local police said the search operation for the missing rescue worker had to be halted due to unusually high water and strong current.

The German weather service issued a new warning for heavy rain in parts of southern and eastern Germany on Monday.