Twelve departments in southwest France are on orange weather alert for thunderstorms, while one in the southeast is on heatwave warning.
Hours after an alert affecting 28 departments in the west of the country was lifted, and with overnight storms still clearing to the north, national forecaster Météo-France issued a new warning for Ariège, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Dordogne, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Deux-Sèvres.
Météo-France placed 13 departments on orange weather alert on Thursday morning Pic: Météo-France screengrab
Storms will develop in the southwest during the afternoon and continue late into the evening, say the forecasters.
Rainfall of up to 80mm is expected in three hours in some areas, and storms may be accompanied by hail, strong winds and sustained electrical activity.
These alerts are expected to remain in place until at least midnight on Thursday, June 17. Météo-France also said strong thunderstorms would affect northern areas of France. It urged residents in the Centre, Ile de France, Hauts de France and Grand-Est regions to remain vigilant and said it may have to upgrade current yellow alerts to orange in the hours to come.
Overnight storms had French residents posting videos on social media.
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In addition, the Rhône department remains on orange heatwave alert. Maximum temperatures flirted with 36C on Wednesday in Lyon and the thermometer did not drop below 23C overnight.
Météo France forecast minimums of 20C to 23C and maximums of 32C to 35C during the day and said that the current alert would be maintained until Friday morning at least.
