Flood warnings in force as rivers rise

Orange flood warnings are in force in several departments as rivers, flooded by days of rain, start to burst their banks.

Météo France has issued its second-highest alerts in the Calvados, Eure, Lot-et-Garonne, Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Nièvre, Oise, Orne, Seine-Maritime, Yvelines, Vosges, Yonne and Val-d'Oise departments, where rivers are expected to flood.

Floods watchdog Vigicrues, meanwhile, warned that, with further heavy rain forecast for Monday, "major overflows may occur in many of the country's rivers".

On Monday, Vigicrues issued an early bulletin warning that the Garonne around Marmande, Lot-et-Garonne, is at risk of flooding later in the day.

Meanwhile, the Marne and Yonne - which are both tributaries of the Seine; the Serein; and the Armançon could all burst their banks in the hours and days ahead, Vigicrues said.

The Viaur river in the Aveyron burst its banks on Saturday - and more flooding is expected as the 'flood wave' moves downstream, with weekend rainfall adding to the water level.

The Dordogne, in the Lot, is also being watched closely, Vigicrue said. On Sunday, water levels had passed 5m, and were expected to rise "several dozen centimetres" due to heavy rain over the weekend.

As well as the river flood warnings, Météo France has placed Ain, Doubs, Isère, Jura, Savoie and Haute-Savoie on orange alert for heavy rain.

The Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Isère are also placed on orange avalanche alert after 1m of fresh snow fell over the weekend in the Savoie mountains. Snow was still falling above 2,000m on Monday, with heavy rains at lower levels, Météo France said.