Exceptional floods hit northern France.

Flooding has hit dozens of towns in northern France, leaving roads sometimes only passable in boats and dozens of schools closed, authorities said Tuesday.

Two rivers - the Aa and the Liane - were placed on red alert for flooding in the northern Pas-de-Calais department after heavy showers overnight from Monday to Tuesday.

Pas-de-Calais: flood vigilance will return to red this Thursday.

In the space of 30 days, the equivalent of six months of precipitation fell on Pas-de-Calais, said Christophe Béchu, stressing that “the last week alone represented three months of precipitation”.

The Ministers of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu visited the disaster areas in Pas-de-Calais this Wednesday morning. Certain sectors should return to red alert on Thursday due to the risk of flooding

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that seven people were injured but did not provide further details. He said that more than 1,500 firefighters were mobilised in the region.

Coming on the heels of Storm Ciaran which battered Western Europe last week, the floods "impacted" around 60 municipalities, causing "significant" damage, said the prefecture, adding that dozens of schools have been closed.