Before-and-after photos of floods in Paris as River Seine continues to rise

Rivers across France keep getting more and more swollen as more and more rain falls on the country, with 15 departments remaining on alert for floods.

In Paris, the Seine had reached 5.5 metres (16.27 feet) above normal at the Austerlitz bridge in the east of the city by 11.30am on Thursday (25 January). It was expected to keep rising, reaching 6.1 metres (20 feet) by Saturday, as high as the June 2016 flooding when authorities were forced to close several monuments, including the Louvre Museum.

Interactive before-and-after photos show how much higher the River Seine is now compared with a year or two ago.

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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.

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

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.