Venice’s St. Mark’s Square was flooded twice over the weekend during high water levels known as “acqua alta”, which is unusual and out of season to occur in the month of August.
On Sunday (August 8) evening, water levels were forecast to rise to above 1 metre and tourists were seen marvelling at the phenomenon in St. Mark’s Square, with some children even going for a splash and others dancing with their feet submerged in water to a pianist who did not let the water levels stop him from playing in the picturesque square.
The Venice municipality said water levels rose to 1 metre on Saturday (August) evening. Data was not yet available for Sunday night,
Venice’s floods, “acqua alta” (high water) 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 pushed down the city ground level. They usually occur in autumn and winter months.