136,000 Dordogne homes without power after storms

A total 136,000 homes in the Dordogne were still without electricity on Thursday morning following violent overnight storms that hit large parts of the country, supplier Enerdis has said.

Firefighters were called out more than 500 times in the worst-hit areas of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine department, while hail caused major damage in the neighbouring Charente, prompting some 370 calls to emergency services.

Damage and debris has forced SNCF to cancel all services in and out of the station at Périgueux, and between Bordeaux and Bergerac.

Across the country, 185,000 homes were blacked out at one point, as storms swept across the country, with Météo-France putting 31 departments on its second highest weather alert.

A 64-year-old cyclist from Loire-Atlantique died after being struck by a falling tree in Objat, Corrèze.

Firefighters in eastern Moselle were called out 260 times, and storms led to mudflows on Wednesday evening in the Somme.

Although national weather forecaster Meteo-France has lifted all orange weather alerts it had in place overnight, it has predicted storms throughout the day, notably in the Grand-Est and Burgundy Franche-Comté regions.