29 alerts issued as new storm hits

FRANCE’S Atlantic coast continues to be battered by severe storms, with Météo France placing Finistère on red alert for imminent heavy rain and flooding.

The forecaster has placed a further 28 departments on orange alert for strong winds and flooding as Storm Qumaira bears down on north-west France, just hours after Storm Petra caused widespread disruption along the Atlantic coast.

Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor and Morbihan were already on orange alert for heavy rain early this morning, since when the alert for Finistère has been raised and 26 other departments have been put on orange alert.

They include all of Normandy and Ile-de-France as well as Charente-Maritime, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, Cotes d'Armor, Eure-et-Loir, Indre-et-Loire, Loir -et-Cher, Loire-Atlantique, Loiret, Maine-et-Loire, Morbihan, Sarthe and Vendée. They have been warned especially to be on the alert for strong winds from 13.00.

Storm conditions are set to continue into tomorrow. Forecasters warned residents living in the path of the severe winter storm to brace for strong winds overnight, with gusts expected to reach 120kph on exposed headlands.

High winds will be accompanied by heavy rainfall, with as much as 60mm predicted to fall on already saturated ground. Already, southern Brittany is being lashed and it is feared localised flooding may cause severe disruption in southern Finistère, Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique this evening.

This new storm will hamper efforts to restore power to 4,000 homes in Brittany still without electricity this morning following the battering France’s Atlantic coast took from Storm Petra yesterday.

In the brief lull after Storm Petra passed, ERDF mobilised nearly 1,000 staff to restore power to 25,000 homes in the region which had been cut off after winds of up to 150kph toppled trees and power lines.

Residents of part of Concarneau were evacuated after a tree fell on a tank containing 800kg of propane gas.

Elsewhere, 11 sailors had to be evacuated by helicopter after the Spanish cargo ship Luno, en route to Bayonne, smashed into a seawall and broke in two near Anglet.

There may be little respite after the current storm passes. Another major depression, named Storm Ruth, is bearing down on the west coast of Ireland, and meteorologists are warning that more severe winter weather is expected while the jet stream remains locked in its current position.

Photo: Météo France