High tide causes widespread flooding in Venice

A quarter of Venice has been submerged by a near-record high tide for June, a time of year when such flooding is rare.

The water level in Italy’s lagoon city reached 116 centimetres (three feet, 9.7 inches) late Thursday, the third-highest mark for June.

That level indicates that around a quarter of Venice has been flooded.

Venice’s sea monitoring agency blamed the unusually high late spring tide on a storm in the Atlantic that brought heavy winds and rain to northern Italy.

Another unseasonably high tide is expected on Friday night.

The highest June high tide was registered in 2002, when the water mark hit 121 centimetres, followed by 117 centimetres in June of 2016.

Venice authorities on Friday did not put out pedestrian bridges, which are usually only used in the peak “acqua alta” season from September to April.

Venice and the rest of Italy are still closed to cruise ships but Italy relaxed travel restrictions for Italians and most Europeans on Wednesday.