Paris’ world-famous louvre and Musee d’Orsay museums shut today to rush valuable artworks out of their basements, as the rain-swollen River Seine reached its highest level in three decades.
At least 14 people have been killed in floods that have wrought havoc in Europe after days of torrential rain, trapping people in their homes and forcing rescuers to row lifeboats down streets turned into rivers.
Parisians were urged to stay away from the Seine, which has spilled its banks in places and was expected to reach a peak of six metres on Friday.
A man on horseback died on Thursday after he was swept away by a swollen river in Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, southeast of Paris.
Ten people have been killed in Germany and two in Romania, while a bee-keeper died in Belgium while trying to protect his hives from the floods, local authorities in the Nassogne region said.