Southwest on storm alert

Thunderstorms are set to sweep across southwest France on Tuesday afternoon, Météo-France has warned.

It issued orange weather warnings in an additional four departments - Allier, Cantal, Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme - in its mid-morning weather update.

The national forecaster had earlier placed 13 departments - Aveyron, Corrèze, Dordogne, Gers, Gironde, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, Landes, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne - on its second highest weather warning.

It urged people in those areas to exercise caution from around 4pm, when the weather system is expected to reach France from northern Spain and the Bay of Biscay.

Metro-France said that the storms would spread across the region towards the Massif Central, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and hail. 'Significant' localised damage is likely, it said.

The storms will reach Languedoc and the Midi-Pyrenees by the evening.

It also warned that other departments are likely to be added to the list later in the day.