Wind and rain: 16 French departments on alert

The departments are: Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Landes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Tarn, Aveyron, Ariège, Lot, Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers and Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

Météo-France is warning that the wind is becoming stronger in the south west - between 100-130kph on the Atlantic coast with possible 160kph gales in Tarn, Aveyron, and Corsica.

There is a high risk of flooding from waves on the coast from the Charente-Maritime to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Six-metre high waves have been seen between Oléron (Charente-Maritime) and Cap-Ferret (Gironde).

The rain is not expected to stop until tomorrow (Saturday December 14) morning. In the last 48 hours, between 50 and 80mms of rain has fallen in the plains the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Hautes-Pyrénées, and between 90 and 140mms in the mountains. Between 20-50mm are still expected in the plains and between 70-120mm in the mountains.