Cyclone Freddy, which dissipated this week after a record-breaking rampage, has caused more than 460 deaths in southern Africa and affected more than half a million people in Malawi, the UN said Friday.

The storm dumped six months' worth of rainfall in six days in southern Malawi, leaving a trail of destruction and severely damaged infrastructure as well as flooding farmland.

"Over 500,000 people have been affected," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report, adding that more than 183,100 people had been displaced.

Some 360 people have died in Malawi, according to the latest toll released late Friday, in a country of nearly 20 million people.

UN World Food Programme (WFP) country director Paul Turnbull said Friday it was clear that the country "will need significant support".

Many areas were rendered inaccessible, "restricting movement of assessment and humanitarian teams and life-saving supplies", he said.

So far, the government puts the number of displaced at more than 183,000, Chakwera has said, appealing for global aid to tackle the humanitarian needs.

More than 300 emergency shelters have been set up for survivors, while the army and police continue searching for bodies.