Flood and heavy rain alerts for parts of south of France on Saturday

Two departments are to be placed on a tier-three orange warning for heavy rain and flooding overnight (September 15 to 16) as storms hit both the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.

Hérault and Gard will face the orange warnings from around 3:00 Saturday morning. They are set to remain for most of the day but drop to tier-two yellow warnings at around 18:00.

Elsewhere, a number of departments will face tier-two yellow warnings for stormy conditions and heavy rain, particularly along the Atlantic coastline and parts of the Mediterranean, with 20 departments facing these warnings on Friday evening.

Warnings in place most of Saturday

Weather forecaster Météo France predicts that in the two coastal departments “the rainfall could be fairly heavy," and "the storms could be accompanied by strong gusts of wind, particularly on the coast.”

Residents in the two departments should take extreme caution when going outside on Saturday, particularly if they live in areas prone to flooding. They should keep informed about local weather updates.

Weekend storms for some

Temperatures in France have risen steadily throughout the week – but have not reached levels high enough for an official heatwave (canicule) to be declared in any department. A number of storms will now hit the country over the course of the weekend, causing temperature drops.

On Friday evening, a number of departments on the Atlantic coast, south west of France, and the Mediterranean coast will see storm warnings, with rain and strong winds – but no prediction of hail.

On Saturday, the number of departments grows slightly – up to a maximum of 25 throughout the day – although in the areas unaffected temperatures could reach up to 30C.

You can find information about this weekend’s storm warnings on the official Météo France website here.

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