High tide floods Venice

(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)

Heavy rains and snow continued to batter northern Italy late on Monday (February 11) with an icy-watery slush flooding St. Mark's Square in Venice.

Ice chunks floated along the top of submerged waterways and local residents and tourists donned rubber boots to have a look at the exceptional weather.

The almost non-stop rainfall caused sea levels to reach an exceptional high for this time of year, approximately 1.43 metres above the usual sea level.

Despite the high water level, locals were relieved. Officials had warned of a 1.60 m high level which would have led to 60 percent of Venice being under water.