Europe is "underestimating" the scale and severity of the migration crisis and "millions of Africans" will flood the continent in the next five years unless urgent action is taken, a senior European official has warned.

The dire prediction from Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, came as Paris evacuated almost 3,000 migrants sleeping rough from a makeshift camp near the city centre - the 34th such evacuation in two years.

In an interview with Il Messagero newspaper, Mr Tajani said there would be an exodus "of biblical proportions that would be impossible to stop if we don't confront the problem now".