Heavy rain and flooding alerts for eastern France ahead of Christmas
Savoie and Haute-Savoie are under an orange warning, while much of northern France are on yellow alerts for strong winds. What will Christmas weekend look like?
Two French departments have been placed under an orange alert for heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding
Gabriela Tulian / Shutterstock
The departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie have been placed under orange alerts for heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding by national forecaster Météo France today (December 23).
An “extended” period of heavy rain is expected to last throughout this afternoon and until at least 23:00 tonight.
The precipitation is set to “disrupt traffic and cause localised flooding,” Météo France said.
“If we are fairly confident regarding the quantity of rain forecast, uncertainty remains in relation to its contribution to melting the snow coverage above 1,800-2,000m.”
Some 25-50mm of rain has already fallen over the region’s mountains since yesterday evening (December 22), with precipitation turning to snow around 2,300m above sea level.
Some 36 departments in Brittany, Normandy, Hauts-de-France and Grand Est are also under yellow alerts for strong winds.
A yellow alert does not mean that local residents need to take any particular action, but they are encouraged to remain vigilant to the evolving situation.
People in areas affected by an orange alert are advised to stay away from bodies of water, to avoid driving down an even partially flooded road, to keep up to date with the situation and not to go down into basements or cellars.
You can find out more on the Météo France website.
What will the weather be like over Christmas?
Météo France predicts that the weather will remain fairly mild this weekend (December 24-25), with temperatures ranging from 10C in the north east to 18C in the south west tomorrow afternoon.
On Christmas Day it will be slightly warmer across much of France, with lows of 10C in the east and far north, and highs of 19C around Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées).
Sunny weather is expected across the southern half of France, and showers in the north.
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