Paris Flood Water Reaches Highest Level For More Than 30 Years

Flood waters in Paris are starting recede, French authorities have said, after the they rose to their highest for nearly 35 years overnight, plunging the city into chaos.

But there have been warnings it could take 10 days for the river to come back to its normal levels after the Seine River rose to six metres above average levels, The Associated Press reports.

The French capital's famously romantic tree-lined riverside walkways were inundated with water, which reached streets as well.

President Francois Hollande called the flooding "exceptional". 

The water forced the Orsay museum, the country's national library, the Grand Palais and the iconic Louvre Museum to shut. The Louvre moved more than 250,000 art works to higher floors to avoid the rising water.

The flood level was six metres above normal level, not seen since 1982. The all time record is 8.62 metres during floods in 1910.

"We're now in the stabilisation phase, even if we could still get one or two centimetres more," said Bruno Janet, from the country's environment ministry.

The city's tourist attractions remain closed. The Louvre is expected to remain closed until at least Wednesday and the Orsay will remained closed all weekend.

Some metro stations were closed as flood water spilled out on to the city's streets.

Floods due to heavy rains have inundated parts of France, Germany and Belgium this week.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said four people had died and 24 were injured in the flooding in France.

Over 17,000 homes were still without electricity Saturday in the Paris region and centre of France.

French insurance companies are expected to have to pay out around £470 million over the damage.

The floods follow widespread strikes in France against labour reform law, that disrupted travel and later forced EasyJet and other carriers to cancel flights from Britain to the country.