The Queen sent a message of support as a massive aid appeal was launched yesterday to save the millions hit by Cyclone Idai.
Whole villages have been swamped by floodwaters in what could become the worst weather disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere.
Aid agencies, struggling with only four helicopters at one stage, fear the death toll could be in the tens of thousands but they have yet to even reach whole swathes of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The Queen sent a message of support as a massive aid appeal was launched to save the millions hit by Cyclone Idai in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Yesterday they launched an appeal to send food, fresh water and tents to the region where some 2.6million people are estimated to have lost homes, farms and families.
The British Government is offering to match every pound donated, up to £2million.
The Queen, who made a private donation, sent her sympathies to the presidents of the three Commonwealth countries.
She said: ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost loved ones and those who are in urgent need of food, water, medical care and shelter.’
Cyclone Idai smashed into the Mozambique coast a week ago at 105mph and left a trail of destruction as it swept inland.
Villages and farms have been submerged in floodwaters so deep that buildings and trees are invisible from the air in some places. Houses, roads and bridges have been ripped apart.
Some 835 square miles are flooded. So far about 300 people are confirmed dead but the toll has been estimated at more than 1,000 and it is feared tens of thousands may have
