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Fréjus Tunnel that connects France and Italy to close this weekend
The tunnel will close for 12 hours and not the 56 hours originally announced
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TotalEnergies opens service station for electric vehicles in Paris
It is the first of its kind in the capital and has ultra-fast charging
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Conductors on French public transport will soon be able to check your address
Move is part of anti-fraud plans to prevent people from giving false information during fines including on SNCF trains
62 communes without safe tap water after flooding
The heavy rainfall and severe flooding in the Seine-Maritime region has left over 62 communes without safe tap drinking water.
Flooding and rising river levels - including that of the River Loue, whose dangerous banks led to the Doubs and Jura being put on the highest level of Météo France weather alert yesterday (red) - have caused chaos in the area, with nine departments still on orange flooding alert.
Now, around 23,580 inhabitants are unable to drink their tap water, due to a microbial infection in the water due to complications caused by flooding, reports news source France Info.
Authorities in the area have begun to distribute safe drinking water in the affected areas, with the Seine-Maritime prefecture conjecturing that the microbial contamination may have been caused in part by soil erosion after heavy rainfall, causing significant quantities of clay and silt to have been dumped into the area’s groundwater reserves.
Affected residents have been warned not to drink the tap water until further notice, and to buy or collect bottled water from local stores or cooperatives.
Mais si ça va, je vous assure qu'ici tout baigne ! #inondations #Seine#crue #France #Seine Maritime#Normandie pic.twitter.com/DQFfQ0xPyI
— Katioucha (@Elektrikkka) June 6, 2016
A yellow flooding alert is still in place for those living near the banks of the River Seine, which at the time of writing had been measured as higher than the December 2010 high of 3.92m - but still (as yet) far from the absolute high of 6.10m seen in June 2016.
Residents are warned to be vigilant, says Météo France.
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