Weather warnings increase as France prepares for Easter storms

Almost two-thirds of French departments face weather warnings today (March 29), as a number of different conditions continue to affect the country, including fierce storms over the weekend.

In the east, strong winds of up to 140 km/h are expected in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. They already reached 116 km/h overnight in the Loire department.

These are set to move southwards into the Massif Central throughout the day, where they will remain at the same intensity until late evening.

Currently, two departments (Loire and Rhône) are facing heightened orange level warnings for the strong winds.

Although gales in the English Channel are less intense than yesterday, some ferry trips are facing delays, including DFDS services between Dover and Calais.

If travelling on the ferry, you should check your travel arrangements.

Elsewhere, the west and south-west are facing a combination of stormy weather and heavy rain warnings. In mountainous departments avalanche alerts are in place.

Week of disturbances, with more to come this weekend

Easter weekend will see the southern and central areas of France face another round of Atlantic storms. These will push eastwards over the weekend, before dissipating at the beginning of next week.

In addition, another épisode cévenol is forecast on Saturday and Sunday, which will affect the south-east in particular.

The rest of the country, including the north and north-west, will also see rain throughout the weekend, as clouds push into France from several directions.

This will particularly be the case on Easter Sunday, with rain expected to last throughout the day.

Read more: Storms, snow and strong winds forecast for France over Easter

Yesterday (March 28), the west of France saw winds of over 180 km/h, and snow fell in Brittany due to storm Nelson.

Read more: PHOTOS: snow in Brittany and 180 km/h gales as storm Nelson arrives

Earlier in the week, intense southern storms brought more than 150 mm of rainfall to some parts of the Massif Central.

Currently, there are no heightened weather warnings in place for the weekend, but this is subject to change depending on the intensity of the storms.

You can keep up to date with all the weather alerts on the official Météo France website.

Read more: What action is advised with different Météo France weather warning

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