France weather: Calmer weekend ahead after two die in Corsica floods

Calm weather will return to France this weekend following stormy conditions in the south that brought intense rain and flooding and led to the deaths of two people overnight in Corsica. 

Rain and grey skies will be limited to the east and Mediterranean, with temperatures to rise on Saturday, before seeing a north-south divide on Sunday, as the north gets colder but the south remains warm. 

Friday November 6 

A hint of conditions to come, Friday sees thick grey clouds cover the east and north of France for much of the day, bringing showers to eastern regions. 

The south-west will see up to nine hours of sunshine, central areas seven, and in Paris around three, but in the north and east no sunshine is forecast. 

Fierce storms in the south are now mainly limited to Corsica, where a heightened tier-three orange warning for heavy rain / flash flooding remains in place until midday.

Earlier this morning, authorities reported that two people on the island had died after being trapped in a car swept away by flooding. 

According to local media, the incident happened at around 1:00 AM on a road between Bonifacio and Porto-Vecchio. One passenger managed to escape the car while two others were trapped inside and were later found dead by firefighters. 

On the mainland, Hérault and Gard face river flooding alerts following this week’s heavy rainfall. 

Temperatures will climb compared to the middle of the week, with highs of 12C in the north, 16C in the south, and 17C in the south-west. 

Note that in the east cold winds will ensure temperatures fail to reach double digits.

Saturday November 7 

Grey skies from Friday will begin to penetrate further into France, covering Normandy, the Pyrénées, and the Massif Central. 

Even so, rainfall is set to be limited to a few scattered showers along the Normandy coast and the south-east, where the French Riviera and Corsica are also set to see some rainfall towards the evening. 

A band of sunny weather will run from the Landes department up the western coast, moving inland to central areas and south of Paris, pushing back grey skies. 

Temperatures will climb in the northern half of the country, with highs of 10C possible in the east, up to 13C in the north, and 16C across the south. This will see national averages return to seasonal norms after a chilly week.

Note that morning temperatures will be very chilly, between 3C and 8C, and frost is possible. 

Drivers should note that fog is expected across many areas in the morning, and will become more common as winter approaches. Advice on driving in fog can be found in our article here. 

Sunday November 8 

Conditions in the west – roughly Normandy down to the Massif Central and to the Atlantic – will remain sunny and pleasant throughout the day. 

East of this, however, grey skies are forecast again, and fog could persist well into the afternoon in northern areas. 

Rain is possible along the Mediterranean as weather systems from the sea move inland, but will not fall in any large quantity. Elsewhere, conditions should remain dry. 

Temperatures in the north may drop, with highs of 9C in Normandy and the east, and around 12C in Brittany, but in the south will rise.

This includes a possible 20C in the south-west around Biarritz, despite some cloudy skies, and along the Mediterranean coastline highs of 18C are expected regardless of the rain. 

Early forecasts for next week point towards some disturbances. Rainfall in the south at the start of the week will spread north, gradually covering the entire country. This rainfall could progress into storm-like conditions, and may fall in large quantities. Rain and flood warnings are possible next week.

At the same time, temperatures are expected to increase, reaching up to 5C above seasonal norms, with highs of 20C - 23C forecast across the south.