Due to high water levels: Iguazú Falls briefly closes to visitors

Following recent heavy rains on the Brazilian side of Iguazú Falls, the popular tourist hotspot was closed for several days as water levels rise.

Severe storms in southern Brazil at the end of October and start of November impacted the footbridges that provide access to the viewpoints of the Falls.

Torrents of brown flood waters engulfed the tourist walkway to the popular viewpoint known as Devil's Throat. The walkway remained closed for days, even as floodwaters begun to recede.

24.2 million litres of water per second accumulated, more than 16 times the normal amount of 1.5 million litres, the highest volume of water in years.

Though an extraordinary amount of water, the highest water volume on record for the Falls is still held at 46.3 million litres per second from 2014.

The border area between Argentina and Brazil has also been battered in recent months by heavy rain and flooding, attributed in part to the presence of El Niño, which causes a change to the distribution of rainfall across South America.

The Iguazú Falls are one of the largest in the world, consisting of 275 separate waterfalls formed by the Iguazú river. Though now reopened, rainfall in the region is expected to remain above average throughout the rest of November.