Roads and schools closed: heavy rain and red flood alerts raised in south of France

Update October 17, 14:45 - Six departments has been placed on the highest possible 'red-tier' warning for weather conditions; Haute-Loire, Loire, Lozère and Rhône (river flooding) and Ardèche (heavy rain/flash flooding). Alpes-Maritimes will see a red warning in place for heavy rain/flash flooding from 18:00 onwards.

Red-level warnings will remain until in place in Ardèche until just before midnight tonight, and in the other departments until at least Friday (October 18).

Nineteen departments in the south of France have also been placed on orange alert (the second-highest possible) by state forecaster Météo France for warnings of heavy rain, storms and potential flooding. 

The departments on orange alert are: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Lot, Corrèze, Tarn, Aveyron, Lozère, Gard, Landes Alpes-Maritimes, Puy-de-Dôme, Aude, Hérault, Loire, Dordogne, Ariège, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, Rhône, Var and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

Elsewhere, most of the north and centre of France is also facing tier-two alerts for rain and storms.

Read more: What action is advised with different Météo France weather warnings

Intense effects of weather

In the Ardèche, where alerts were upgraded to a red-level warning (the highest possible) this morning, residents are being warned to stay inside and only leave their homes if absolutely necessary, and not to drive. 

Record rainfall has hit the department in the last 24 hours, including in Barnas, where 433 mm of rain has fallen, according to  Météo France forecaster Frédéric Douay. This is 100 mm more than the previous record, seen in 2014.

Several roads in the department, and those surrounding it have been closed due to flooding.

In Ardèche these include sections of the RD 120, RD 404, RD101, RD 15 and RD 151.

The town-centre of Annonay in the department has been completely closed off, after severe flooding affected the area. You can see videos of the flooding on local media site Le Dauphine.

Schools and nurseries (maternelles) will be closed this afternoon in Ardèche. Where possible, they have been evacuated (although all evacuations took place peacefully, the prefecture states), and where this cannot be done, students will remain indoors throughout the day. 

Firefighters have made over 250  interventions due to weather-related events in Ardèche since the rain began.

Schools in the Alpes-Maritimes department, including nurseries, primary and secondary schools, and colleges/sixth forms are closed today, after the prefecture asked for them to remain shut last night.

Parks and some other public places are closed in the department's capital Nice, and homeless people have been provided temporary shelter.

Up to 100 mm of rain may fall in the department during today's storms, particularly in the west. Soil in the department is already saturated from last week's storms, leading to the risk of flooding. 

It comes a week after storm Kirk swept across France, leaving a trail of damage and flooding in its wake, and causing at least one death. 

Read more: Flooding: why it is important to check your French property damage policy