Venice’s mayor on Wednesday warned that the future of the city is at stake amid severe flooding, saying: "Venice is on its knees".

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told a press conference that the damage sustained in recent flooding will cost “hundreds of millions of euros" to repair as the world heritage city was hit by its highest tide in more than 50 years.

Mr Brugnaro blamed climate change for the "dramatic situation" and called for a speedy completion of a long-delayed project to construct offshore barriers.

The exceptionally intense high waters, or “acqua alta,” peaked at 1.87 metres (6ft) on Tuesday night as the flood alarm sounded across the Italian city of canals, the tide monitoring centre said.

Only once since records began in 1923 has the water crept even higher, reaching 1.94 metres in 1966.