South-west on storm alert

SIX departments are on storm and flood alert this morning, with Météo France warning of heavy rainfalls in the Pyrenean departments plus Tarn and Aveyron.

Rainstorms over the past 12 hours have already seen 8.7cm of rain at Fraisse-Murat, Tarn, and 5.8cm in Socoa, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, with up to another 5cm due on high ground in Ariège and Tarn over the next 12 hours.

The departments of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64), Ariège (09), Aveyron (12), Haute-Garonne (31), Hautes-Pyrénées (65) and Tarn (81) are on orange alert until 16.00 this afternoon. Météo France says the rains should ease quickly and disappear through the evening.

Residents are warned to avoid driving on secondary roads and to take care if living in or near a flood zone.

Corrèze, Lot and Tarn-et-Garonne have been eased to yellow alert along with much of the south-eastern half of the country along a diagonal from Landes to Meuse.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is on yellow alert but residents have been warned of thunderstorms this morning over the western departments of Bouches-de-Rhône, Vaucluse and Var.

The rains come after a long spell of good weather, especially in the north-east of France with Strasbourg having seven consecutive days of cloud-free skies from Saturday April 18 to Friday 24. The Paris region saw a sunny record April with six days totalling 78.6hours and very warm temperatures for the season.

However, this week’s May 1 public holiday will not give many families the chance of sunny picnics, with poor weather forecast across the country and lasting through to the weekend – the fourth poor May 1 in a row.