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Paris is on high alert as the River Seine continued to surge even higher after non-stop rain in the French capital.

The Seine is expected to hit a peak of six metres over the weekend with riverside households and businesses readying themselves should the river fully burst its banks.

Continuous, heavy rainfall in the city has led the Seine and Marne rivers to rise and approach record level, while rats are being flushed out of sewers in many parts of the capital.

Videos posted online have shown giant rodents scampering through the streets and climbing into rubbish bins and one French photographer captured a group of rats scurrying around outside Notre Dame cathedral.

Shocking drone footage, shared by Police in the city, shows the extent of the flooding in the French capital.

Paris Flooding - In pictures 18 show all Paris Flooding - In pictures 1/18 A flooded street lamp is pictured next to the river Seine in Paris AP 2/18 Water rushes past Alma bridge by the Zouave statue which is used as a measuring instrument during floods in Paris AP 3/18 A resident cleans debris from a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 4/18 A man photographs a lampost emerging from floodwaters on Ile Saint-Louis, on the banks of the Seine river in Paris EPA 5/18 Paris police navigate on the Seine River that overflowed its banks as heavy rains throughout the country have caused flooding in the French capital Reuters 6/18 The Zouave soldier statue under the Pont d'Alma as the Seine River overflows its banks as heavy rains throughout the country have caused flooding, in Paris Reuters 7/18 An elderly woman is helped by fire brigade divers after she went back home to feed animals in a flooded residential area in Conde-Sainte-Libiaire, near Pari Reuters 8/18 A man uses a dinghy as he leaves a housebout on the flooded river Seine in Paris AFP/Getty Images 9/18 A police water patrol ride a boat on the flooded river Seine in Paris AFP/Getty Images 10/18 A resident cleans debris from a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 11/18 Members of the SyAGE (Syndicat mixte pour l'Assainissement et la Gestion des Eaux - Mixed Union for Water Sanitation and Management) inspect a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris. The Seine continued to rise, flooding streets and putting museums on an emergency footing as record rainfall pushed rivers over their banks across northeastern France. AFP/Getty Images 12/18 A man walks on a closed road leading to the flooded banks of the Seine river in Paris AFP/Getty Images 13/18 A picture shows the flooded bank of the river Seine with the Saint-Jacques tower in the backround in Paris AFP/Getty Images 14/18 People look at a flooded section of a street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Pari AFP/Getty Images 15/18 A picture shows a car in a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 16/18 A resident cleans debris from a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 17/18 A man looks at the flooded banks of the river Seine near the Beaugrenelle area and the Eiffel Tower in Paris AFP/Getty Images 18/18 People walk along the flooded banks of the Seine river in Paris, France AP 1/18 A flooded street lamp is pictured next to the river Seine in Paris AP 2/18 Water rushes past Alma bridge by the Zouave statue which is used as a measuring instrument during floods in Paris AP 3/18 A resident cleans debris from a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 4/18 A man photographs a lampost emerging from floodwaters on Ile Saint-Louis, on the banks of the Seine river in Paris EPA 5/18 Paris police navigate on the Seine River that overflowed its banks as heavy rains throughout the country have caused flooding in the French capital Reuters 6/18 The Zouave soldier statue under the Pont d'Alma as the Seine River overflows its banks as heavy rains throughout the country have caused flooding, in Paris Reuters 7/18 An elderly woman is helped by fire brigade divers after she went back home to feed animals in a flooded residential area in Conde-Sainte-Libiaire, near Pari Reuters 8/18 A man uses a dinghy as he leaves a housebout on the flooded river Seine in Paris AFP/Getty Images 9/18 A police water patrol ride a boat on the flooded river Seine in Paris AFP/Getty Images 10/18 A resident cleans debris from a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 11/18 Members of the SyAGE (Syndicat mixte pour l'Assainissement et la Gestion des Eaux - Mixed Union for Water Sanitation and Management) inspect a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris. The Seine continued to rise, flooding streets and putting museums on an emergency footing as record rainfall pushed rivers over their banks across northeastern France. AFP/Getty Images 12/18 A man walks on a closed road leading to the flooded banks of the Seine river in Paris AFP/Getty Images 13/18 A picture shows the flooded bank of the river Seine with the Saint-Jacques tower in the backround in Paris AFP/Getty Images 14/18 People look at a flooded section of a street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Pari AFP/Getty Images 15/18 A picture shows a car in a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 16/18 A resident cleans debris from a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, south of Paris AFP/Getty Images 17/18 A man looks at the flooded banks of the river Seine near the Beaugrenelle area and the Eiffel Tower in Paris AFP/Getty Images 18/18 People walk along the flooded banks of the Seine river in Paris, France AP

Some basements in the city have already sprung leaks and many roads in the region are already waterlogged after the rivers surged.

The Seine is usually at a height of four metres.

Boat traffic, including the capital’s famous tourist cruises, has been halted. Seven metro stations along the river have been shut down and will remain closed until the end of the month, while the flood has also affected the Louvre Museum.

France’s most popular museum, which is home to the Mona Lisa, said it will close the lower level of the Department of Islamic Arts until at least January 28. It has removed works from the basement level.

Roads and walking paths along the Seine have been closed. Tourists are urged to remain vigilant and stay away from the river.

A statue representing a soldier from the Crimean War, is used by Parisians as a reference point to measure the Seine's level.

By midday Friday, the Zouave had water up to its thighs.

"I'm here to take pictures and souvenirs," said Marc Bernard, a 59-year-old man who was born in Paris and witnessed several other floods. "I wouldn't say it's spectacular, but it's a special atmosphere. It's nice to watch the waters running faster."

A few Paris residents have been forced to leave their homes on the Seine riverbanks. The manager of a building on the right bank in the west of the French capital said he had the ground-floor windows boarded up after residents lost most of their belonging in the 2016 floods.

"The first residents left three days ago and yesterday or the day before. Everybody was gone here," Joao De Macedo said on Friday. "They put everything up on concrete blocks."

De Macedo said he had noticed the water was also making its way into the building through the cellar's floor and was penetrating the walls.

The situation is far more difficult outside Paris. Exceptionally heavy rains have caused power outages and forced about 400 evacuations from homes elsewhere on the Seine after it and other French rivers burst their banks.

The floods caused significant damage in the suburbs. They will also have an economic impact on the businesses operating boats on the Seine, since all river traffic has been banned until further notice.

Anthony Huard, who organizes floating parties on a boat moored in the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, said much of his activity has been halted.

"Since the start of the year I have only been able to host just two events, instead of 10 normally," he said.

The highest the Seine has ever risen is 28 feet during “The Great Flood” in 1910.