Rain and flood alerts continue in south and east of France, schools closed
Heightened alerts are in place in five departments
Rain will hit hard in the daytime before petering out in the late afternoon
Gabriela Tulian / Shutterstock
Heightened weather alerts remain in place across the south and east of France this morning after heavy rain began overnight.
State forecaster Météo France placed 11 departments on a heightened tier-three orange alert for heavy rain / flash flooding yesterday (October 7), with warnings coming into force overnight.
These warnings have remained in place in five of the affected departments – Ain, Isère Jura, Hautes-Alpes, and Alpes Maritimes – today and will remain in place until late afternoon.
Elsewhere, lower tier-two warnings are present across the north-west in Normandy, Brittany, and around Paris, as a bout of storms hits these regions.
Residents in departments facing tier-three orange alerts should be extremely vigilant when going outside, stay indoors where possible, and keep up to date with local weather announcements.
Read more: What action is advised with different Météo France weather warnings
Warnings may increase as the passage of the storm progresses. The storm is expected to intensify throughout the day before dying down in the late afternoon and moving across the Swiss/Italian borders.
Read more: What to do (and not do) during heavy rain and flood alerts in France
Public buildings closed in the south-east
Exceptionally heavy rain is set to fall between the early morning and afternoon; up to 100mm in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur (PACA) region, eastern mountains, and the Rhône Valley, and up to 200mm in the Cévennes mountains and parts of the Massif Central.
The equivalent of up to one month’s worth of rain is expected to fall in less than 24 hours in parts of these areas.
Strong winds of nearly 100 km/h may also hit some areas, with hail also expected in the south and parts of the south-west near the Mediterranean coastline.
Consequently, local authorities have taken action to protect local residents, with flooding and disruptions likely.
In Nice and the wider Alpes-Maritimes department, the prefecture has closed all schools and crèches today, and asked people to remain indoors where possible.
Schools were closed in the department last year, also in October, when it faced a tier-four red alert (the highest possible) for heavy rain.
In addition, parks, museums, cemeteries and sports centres have also been closed in Nice, as well as in Antibes.
You can keep up to date with all weather alerts via the Météo France website. These warnings are likely to change throughout the day as weather conditions progress.
