Ain, Isère, Rhône, Haute-Savoie and Pas-de-Calais have joined the list of departments most exposed to the risk of violent storms in the 4:00 p.m. report from Météo-France, which maintains the whole of the metropolis in yellow vigilance.
Active since Tuesday, orange vigilance is maintained for Hérault, Gard, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône and Var. While three Norman departments – Manche, Calvados and Seine-Maritime – have also been on orange alert since 2:00 p.m.
In the South-East, after a temporary lull in the morning, new storms re-formed on the reliefs of Hérault and Gard and stormy lines appeared at sea before touching the Var and Bouches-du again. -Rhône, “the most exposed department with storms which can be long-lasting and not very mobile”, specifies the meteorological institute, which evokes “summer storms” without qualifying the episode as “Mediterranean”.
“At the end of the afternoon, the storms finally evacuate towards the east of the region, losing their activity”, forecasts Météo-France, which warns against violent precipitation which can reach “80 mm in a short time. weather, with hail and strong gusts of wind in the range of 80 to 100 km/h”.
In the Var, 54 mm were recorded in one hour at La Garde-Freinet, according to Météo-France. Between Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône, the cumulative rainfall between Saint Gilles and Saintes-Marie is estimated at around 70/80 mm.
Further north, “violent thunderstorms crossed Stéphanois then Lyonnais”, with gusts “up to 130 km / h” and “heavy hail”.
In these regions, Météo-France predicts hailstones of “more than 3 cm”, but with cumulative rains “generally less than 30 mm” due to the rapid passage of storms.
“I’ve never seen that in my life”, “it’s the deluge”, a “hurricane”, Internet users reacted on Wednesday by commenting on dozens of photos and videos which abound on social networks on storms in Saint- Etienne and in the Loire.
On the images, we can see heavy rains flooding the roads and carrying away the garbage cans in their path, trees knocked down on the road by the gusts of wind or a blanket of hail covering the gardens.
On the Normandy coast and the Pas de Calais, “stormy rains will be frequent, they can locally give up to 40 to 60 mm in a very short time”, warns the national weather service.
During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the previous stormy wave had swept the South-East, from Aude to Var, but no significant damage had been recorded, according to the emergency services interviewed by AFP. Orange vigilance had been lifted overnight for Aude, Tarn and Aveyron.
According to the firefighters in the middle of the afternoon, the bad weather did not cause any significant damage in the Mediterranean departments.
In the Hérault, Météo-France however noted “up to 75 mm of precipitation in Montarnaud and 97 mm in Puechabon, including 86 mm in one hour”, strong accumulations which could raise fears of the risk of flooding.
At the Marseilles court, many offices were flooded due to a crack in a rainwater pipe, the prosecution reported on Twitter. “But everything is going well now”, he reassured then.
