Japanese rescue crews have taken advantage of a break in the weather to clean up and search for survivors of torrential rain, floods and landslides, as the death toll from several days of freak weather rises. 

Thousands of people have been displaced around the city of Asakura.

Authorities have warned there are more downpours on the way, bringing little relief to locals, some of whom have seen more rain in a matter of hours than they usually get in the whole month of July.