Ten people have been killed and thousands of others left homeless as rains unleashed floods in vast areas of Niger, the UN says.

On Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the desert areas of Tahoua in the west and Agadez in the north are the worst affected regions.

Flooding in Tahoua killed seven people and left over 5,320 people homeless, while three people died and nearly 18,450 were made homeless in Agadez.

Nigerien authorities said the flooding left more than 19,530 cows, goats, sheep and camels dead and destroyed a vast swath of land in the two areas.

Both local authorities and the UN have been delivering food aid for the displaced.

The UN had warned last month that Niger floods could affect 100,000 people by the end of the year.

In 2015, flooding killed scores of people and made 103,000 others homeless in the country.

The rains in Niger will probably not ease the pressure on the food supply due the fact that flooding, caused by climate change, damages crops.