Updated | Brussels on highest terror alert due to fears of 'Paris-style attack'

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that a decision to raise the terror alert in Brussels to the highest level was based on “quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris last week”

“We feared that several individuals with arms and explosives could launch an attack, perhaps in several places,” Michel said, adding that the government will review the security situation on Sunday afternoon.

Most of the shops in the EU capital have been closed, as the majority of its citizens remained indoors. Soldiers and police officers patrol the streets and stand guard next to hotels while security personnel pat down customers.

The Brussels metro is closed till Sunday and the government has advised people to avoid crowds, including shopping centres, airports and concerts. The authorities have also recommended that large events, including football matches, be cancelled.

The warning for the rest of Belgium stays at a lower level, which is still at a "serious" level.

Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon earlier told reporters the country's situation was "serious", but "under control", as he arrived for a special security cabinet meeting on Saturday.

Brussels was home to the suspected perpetrators of the Paris terror attacks carried out on 13 November, and a huge manhunt is underway for leading suspect Salah Abdeslam who is believed to have travelled back to Belgium.

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to "redouble" action against Islamic State following last week's deadly attacks in the French capital in which 130 people died.

The French-drafted document urges UN members to "take all necessary measures" in the fight against IS, which said it carried out the attacks.

The Belgian authorities have so far charged three people with involvement in the attacks.