Interactive before-and-after photos show how much higher the River Seine is now compared with a year or two ago.
Drag slider
to compare photos
Move your mouse/finger across the picture to compare the Notre Dame Cathedral and the River Seine on 28 August 2017, and the same scene on 25 January 2018
Drag slider
to compare photos
Move your mouse/finger across the picture to compare these photos of the Notre Dame Cathedral and the River Seine on 10 August 2016, and on 25 January 2018
Roads along the shores of the Seine remain closed, as well as seven train stations alongside the river. The popular "bateaux mouches" tour boats have been suspended until further notice.
In the southeastern Paris suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which is crossed by both the Seine and its Yerres tributary, local mayor Sylvie Altman said soldiers are being deployed to help evacuate the population. Police forces and fire brigades are on site, patrolling flooded streets on small boats. Many residents were unable to enter their homes, and many were evacuated to a nearby sports centre.
A street lamp pokes out of the floodwaters on the banks of the River Seine in ParisChristian Hartmann/ReutersThe Zouave statue on the Pont D'Alma is partially submerged in the swollen River SeineLudovic Marin/AFPThe Zouave statue on the Alma Bridge, partly submerged in the swollen River SeineGonzalo Fuentes/ReutersA local residents and her dog travel down a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in a rowing boatThomas Samson/AFPParis police divers use a small boat to help a resident to leave home as they patrol a flooded street of a residential area in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, near ParisChristian Hartmann/ReutersParis police divers paddle a small boat past a submerged car parked on a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, near ParisChristian Hartmann/ReutersA police diver pulls a small boat along a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, near ParisChristian Hartmann/ReutersThe flooded interior of a restaurant called Les Pieds dans l'Eau (The Feet in the Water) in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of ParisGeoffroy van der Hasselt/AFPA flooded tennis court next Seine on the Ile de la Grande Jatte between Neuilly-sur-Seine and Levallois-Perret, west of ParisGeoffroy van der Hasselt/AFPHomes are immersed in floodwater in Villeneuve-Saint-GeorgesThomas Samson/AFPTop: A couple prepare for a wedding photo at the Pont de La Tournelle in August 2015. Bottom: The same scene on 25 August 2018Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
Elsewhere in France, the Rhine has burst its banks near Strasbourg, while parts of the Rhone valley, south of Lyon, are underwater. The other regions threatened are in the north and east of the country. Four other departments in central France have been placed on alert for snow and ice. Exceptionally high levels of rain this winter, combined with melting snow, are to blame for the floods
A flooded football field in Benfeld, eastern France, after the River Ill burst its banksPatrick Hertzog/AFPA man drives a tractor along a flooded stretch of road in Tonneins, in the Lot-et-Garonne region of southwestern FranceMehdi Fedouach/AFPAn aerial view flooded farmland in Tonneins, in the Lot-et-Garonne region of southwestern FranceMehdi Fedouach/AFPA woman walks down steps on the flooded banks of the swollen River Rhone in LyonJeff Pachoud/AFPPark benches sit in floodwaters in in Kehl, on the French-German border, after the Rhine burst its banksFrederick Florin/AFPA statue is surrounded by water in Kehl, on the French-German border, after the Rhine burst its banksFrederick Florin/AFP
The situation in Paris is, however, far less severe than during the 1910 Great Flood, when the level of the Seine rose to 8.62 metres (more than 28 feet), forcing many Parisians to evacuate their homes.
