Storm-force winds alert in 16 French departments

Residents in 16 French departments are warned to brace for storm-force winds overnight Thursday and into Friday

Météo-France placed an additional 13 departments on orange alert for storm force winds in its mid-morning bulletin on Thursday.

The Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Ariège, Cantal, Côte-d'Or, Drôme, Haute-Garonne, Isère, Puy-de-Dôme, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Saône-et-Loire were added to three departments - Loire, Haute-Loire and Rhône - that were already on heightened weather alert for damaging winds, while two southwestern departments remain on flood alert.

A southerly wind will gather strength over the Massif Central throughout the day, reaching storm force from about 19:00, Météo-France said. At the end of the evening, violent gusts are forecast on the plateaus of the eastern Haute-Loire, the south of the Loire department and the south of the Rhône department, with winds of up to 120kph predicted.

To the southwest, gusts of up to 150kph are forecast at high altitude in the Pyrénées.

The storms will last all night and well into Friday morning, Météo-France said.

In addition, the national forecaster has again extended an orange flood alert in the Charente-Maritime and Landes.