Exceptional low tide leaves canals almost empty in Venice

Traditional gondolas and boats could be seen almost beached in the canals as water levels reached a peak of -48 cm, creating an unusual landscape in the lagoon city.

Venice, beloved around the world for its canals, historic architecture and art, has always lived in a fragile balance between low and high tides, that usually create variations of around 50 cm in sea levels.

Flooding is a constant enemy of the art city built on a collection of small islands within a saltwater lagoon off the north-eastern coast of Italy, with every new incursion damaging its medieval and Renaissance palaces.

Venice's floods, "acqua alta" in Italian, are caused by a combination of factors, exacerbated by climate change -- from rising sea levels and unusually high tides to land subsidence that has caused the ground level of the city to sink.