Japanese soldiers and police are searching for missing people on the southern island of Kyushu following flooding and landslides caused by record rainfall, BBC reports.

The severe weather conditions are now spreading to the country's old capital Kyoto on the main island of Honshu.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected. Many of them are staying in evacuation centres.
So far, 22 people have reportedly been killed.

About 250,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes to avoid floods, officials say.

TV footage showed muddy waters sweeping through homes and streets as rivers burst their banks in the north of the island.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of further rain and landslides.

At least seven people were said to be missing on Friday, Japanese media said. Japan's Self-Defence Forces have been brought in to help search for the missing.

The evacuation orders affect 85,000 households in the prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, Kumamoto and Oita, the Kyodo news agency reported.

In Fukuoka prefecture alone, about 190,000 people from 65,000 households were issued the order, with the entire area of the cities of Yanagawa, Yame and Miyama to be evacuated.

Another 140,000 have been advised to vacate their homes as well, AFP quoted local officials as saying.

Those being asked to leave their homes have been told to go to designated shelters such as schools and other facilities, according to the agency.