Cars submerged, schools closed: severe flooding hits south of France

Heavy rain has caused severe flooding in parts of the south of France as a strong cévenol storm moved inland from the Mediterranean last night (October 7). 

Heightened warnings remain in place in five departments today (October 8), which are due to be lifted during the afternoon, as the rain hits the south-east, Rhône Valley and eastern France.

Read more: Rain and flood alerts continue in south and east of France, schools closed

Coastal cities such as Marseille faced extremely heavy rain overnight before the storm moved northwards. 

Multiple day’s worth of rain fell in a few minutes – and up to a month’s worth in 24 hours – in parts of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, with roads in Marseille seeing water quickly accumulate. 

This included the city’s iconic Vieux-Port district. 

People in the city woke up to parked cars nearly totally submerged in floodwater. 

More than 30 schools in the city were closed this morning due to the storms. 

There were also disruptions to the city’s bus, tram, and metro network due to the flooding.