PARIS (AP) — French officials say that the Seine River is still rising in Paris as France's unseasonable spate of rainfall begins to taper off.

Traffic in the capital was snarled as flooding choked roads and several Paris railway stations were shut. The country's environment ministry said the Seine had not reached such levels since 1982.

The Louvre Museum is closed Friday as staff work to remove artworks from rooms threatened by the rising waters.

French President Francois Hollande has said that a "natural disaster" will be formally declared next week in a Cabinet meeting for areas most affected by the flooding that has hit Paris and France's central regions.