Météo France issues storm warnings to 25 departments

Storms, including rain, thunder and lightening, are expected by this evening (Sunday July 9), which will put an end to the canicule, the statement read.

An ‘orange’ warning - one level below the most severe - means people should be very vigilant to potential dangers. Some of the storms may be violent, the statement warned, with winds of up to 100 km/h and up to 30mm of rain in one hour.

All storms, and the heatwave, are expected to have come and gone by 2am on Monday morning (July 10).

The warning comes as temperatures across the country are predicted to reach the high 30s today, with some areas south of the Rhône valley seeing temperatures of 38 degrees and over.

The full list of departments affected in the warning are:

Corrèze (19), Côte-d'Or (21), Creuse (23), Doubs (25), Nièvre (58), Haut-Rhin (68), Haute-Saône (70), Territoire-de-Belfort (90), Ain (01), Allier (03), Charente (16), Charente-Maritime (17), Dordogne (24), Gers (32), Gironde (33), Isère (38), Jura (39), Landes (40), Loire (42), Lot-et-Garonne (47), Puy-de-Dôme (63), Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64), Hautes-Pyrénées (65), Rhône (69) et Saône-et-Loire (71).