Photos: Floods in southwest France after two months’ rainfall in day

Parts of southwest France suffered flash flooding yesterday (Monday, August 14) after two months of rainfall fell in less than 24 hours.

Forecaster Météo France put five departments on ‘orange’ alert (the second-most severe level) for storms, and the rainfall was particularly intense in the Lot department, especially in the village of Saint-Céré.

Up to 100-150mm of rain fell in just two hours, said storm observatory Keraunos, due to a ‘stationary’ weather pattern.

Yohan Laurito, a storm chaser who followed the storm, told BFMTV: “In only a few kilometres, we went from calm conditions to a deluge.” He said he had to seek safety “at a high point” to avoid the flooding. “It was very impressive, even to a storm chaser,” he said.

This caused floods across the department and village, including standing water and flooding in and around the E. Leclerc supermarket.

Some roads became impassable, and closed.

A total of 34 departments are still on yellow alert for storms, in a sash formation from Landes, Dordogne, and Lot in the southwest, to Moselle, Ardennes, and Bas-Rhin in the northeast. The orange alert for storms has been lifted.

Yet, hailstorms and wind gusts of up to 70-80km/h are still expected in the regions of Limousin, Périgord, and the north of Occitanie.

Five departments in the east of the country are on orange alert for heatwave conditions (canicule), Rhône is on alert for both a heatwave and storms. Temperatures are expected to hit 36C in some areas.

Cloud cover, rain, and some stormy conditions are expected to persist from the north of Aquitaine to Auvergne, and towards Grand Est. New storms may occur in Occitanie overnight, with some light clouds and rainfall.

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