South and central France on orange alert for storms and flooding

Parts of southern and central France have been placed on orange alert for rainfall and storms on Wednesday, September 4 by state forecaster Météo France. 

An orange alert encourages people to be “very vigilant” and is one below the maximum red alert.

France’s weather service forecast “strong storms with sometimes intense rain” in the departments of Gard, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes departments along France’s southern coast. 

Read more: Storms in France: what to do if at home, out walking or in car

There is also an orange alert for seven departments across a section of central France. They are Loire, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Saône-et-Loire, Allier, Nièvre and Yonne. 

The alerts are currently in place until around 06:00 on Thursday morning for storms and until around 09:00 for a risk of flooding. 

A video on X showed heavy rainfall and flooding in Marseille on Wednesday.