Paris on flood alert with officials preparing to evacuate priceless artworks from the Louvre museum.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in Paris amid a flood alert as officials prepare to evacuate priceless artworks from the Louvre Museum. The Seine reached more than 18ft on Thursday evening at the Austerlitz bridge in the east of the city. It was expected to keep rising, reaching 20ft by Saturday - as high as the June 2016 flooding when authorities were forced to close several monuments, including the Louvre Museum. Paris police said in a statement on Thursday that 395 people have been evacuated protectively from their homes along the banks of the river in the Paris region. Meteo France said that exceptionally high levels of rain this winter were to blame for the floods, with rainfall in Paris twice as high as normal. In addition to the capital, where the Seine river is expected to keep rising until Saturday, other regions are threatened in the north and east of the country. Thirteen departments across France remain on alert for floods as heavy rainfall continues to batter many areas.