Weather warning as 50 departments under alert for storms in France

France’s sunny weather looks to have disappeared nearly as quickly as it arrived.

After balmy temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday (May 4), stormy weather has been sweeping in across parts of the country.

More than half of French departments have weather warnings in place, with northern, central and eastern parts set to be worst hit.

There is expected to be little respite either, with rain forecast to last well into next week.

Half of France on alert over storms

Fifty departments were facing weather warnings on Friday morning (May 5) – ranging from Pas-de-Calais and Nord in the north, as far south as Gironde, and, in the east, Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin.

Despite the high number of warnings, they are the second-lowest ‘yellow’ level.

This means people in these areas should be cautious when outside and keep up to date with weather news in their area.

No department is currently facing any stricter ‘orange’ or ‘red’ severe weather warnings.

Temperatures could still reach above 20C in areas affected by the storms, and sunny, clear skies are expected in the Mediterranean region.

You can see warnings in your area for the next 48 hours using the official Météo France page here.

Will the bad weather continue?

For Saturday (May 6) there are - at the time of writing - around 20 departments facing yellow weather warnings for storms. They are exclusively in the centre and south-west of the country.

Even if there are no weather warnings in place, rain is forecast across most of western and northern France tomorrow.

This could scupper some of our readers’ plans to celebrate the coronation of Charles III, especially outside events.

The rain is not expected to let up, either – aside from brief pauses, almost all of France is predicted to see showers or storms into next week, too.

Related articles

Warmer summer? Météo France gives three-month weather trends outlook

What changes in France in May and need-to-know dates