Violent storm warning in north-east

UPDATE - Météo France has extended the storm alert to eight departments - Aisne, Ardennes, Marne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Seine-Maritime and Somme

Residents in the north-east of France have been warned of extreme weather with violent storms, hailstones and winds of up to 100kph.

Five departments have been put on orange alert by Météo France – Aisne, Ardennes, Marne, Oise and Somme – over electrical storms brought on by the heatwave. Residents have been warned to take care.

The warning bulletin says that up to 5cm of rain could fall in a “very short time” – that means up to 50 litres of water falling on each square metre of land – with thunderstorms lashing areas several times.

The worst of the storms are expected this afternoon from about 16.00 and residents farther west along the Channel coast and down into Charente-Maritime have already had menacing skies with local downpours this morning. The storm warning lasts until after midnight tonight.

With temperatures in the middle of this week up to 11C above normal, yesterday saw Brittany warmer than the Riviera with 32C in Lorient and 25C in Nice. Thermometers will hit 35C in many areas – reaching 40C with the urban heat island effect increasing the temperatures in large towns – today is due to be the hottest of the week.

However, clouds in the west will grow and temperatures are expected to plummet as the weekend approaches as storms brew up – with Sunday maximum temperature expected to vary from 18C to 27C.