Orange alert for heavy rain and flooding for parts of southern France
An intense and sustained period of rainfall is predicted to arrive in the Ardèche, Lozère and Gard departments this afternoon and last into tomorrow
Lozère, Ardèche and Gard are on orange alert for heavy rainfall and flooding
Météo France / Julia Sudnitskaya / Shutterstock
[Update: October 29 at 13:55 - Ardèche has now been placed under an amber alert. Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne and Ariège are under a yellow alert for high winds and Aveyron has been placed under a yellow alert for heavy rain.]
The departments of Lozère and Gard in southern France have been placed under an orange weather warning for heavy rain and flooding today (October 29).
The extreme episode of rainfall is expected to arrive around 15:00, worsening by 21:00 and lasting into Saturday afternoon.
During the night, the weather will become stormy over the Cévennes, with 140-180mm of water expected to fall over 24 hours.
In some areas, rainfall could reach 200-240mm.
Hérault and Ardèche have also been placed on yellow storm alert, and the latter could well be upgraded to orange over the course of the day.
Météo France has introduced a weather alert because of the intensity and duration of the rains forecast to fall.
Do I need to do anything if in these areas?
In the case of an orange weather alert, local residents should keep away from bodies of water and low areas and instead head for higher ground or an upstairs room.
You should avoid going out if possible, but if you are driving, you should not begin down a road that is flooded, even if only partially.
Do not go down into cellars and basements, and make sure you keep up to date with the situation as it unfolds.
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