Prague was putting up flood defences in the city's historic centre on Friday after Czech forecasters expanded a warning for extreme rainfall to areas of the country including the capital, which suffered catastrophic flooding more than 20 years ago.

The first instances of looting have been reported in areas affected by flooding in the Czech Republic, Interior Minister Vit Rakušan said on Wednesday after a crisis meeting in Prague. He said that the law prescribes harsher penalties for such acts during disaster situations and warned that burglary carries penalties of up to 15 years in prison