Venice: Venice has been hit by a record third exceptional tide in the same week while other parts of Italy struggle with a series of weather woes, from rain-swollen rivers to high winds to an out-of-season avalanche.

Stores and museums in Venice were mostly closed in the hardest hit area around St Mark's Square, but tourists donned rubber boots to photograph the spectacle.

Most were disappointed when officials closed the historic square as winds rippled across the rising waters. The doors of the famed St Mark's Basilica were securely shut to the public and authorities stacked sandbags in canal-side windows to prevent salt-laden water from entering the crypt again.

Venice's tide office said the peak tide of 1.5 metres hit just after 1pm, but a weather front off the coast blocked southerly winds from the Adriatic Sea from pushing the tide to the predicted level of 1.6 metres. By early evening, the level was less than a metre.