Thunderstorms, hail, heavy rainfall… What should you expect in the departments on orange alert?

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The stormy episode forecast for Saturday will be accompanied by “intense electrical activity”, “strong gusts of wind”, “hail” and “heavy accumulations of rain in a short time”.

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A storm in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône (Oise), May 2, 2024. (BRUNO LEVESQUE / MAXPPP)

The North-East is expected to be the most affected at the end of the day, Saturday 29 June. Météo-France anticipates “very high rainfall intensities, [un] risk of large hail and occasional gusts of 100/120 km/h”he details on X. In its latest forecast bulletin, Météo-France reduced the number of departments affected by its orange alert on Saturday afternoon and evening to 24 departments, compared to 28 earlier in the day. “The stormy deterioration is well established from the southwest of the country to the Massif-Central and towards the Grand-Est”noted Météo-France.

This medium alert now concerns Ain, Allier, Ardennes, Aube, Cher, Côte-d’Or, Doubs, Jura, Loire, Marne, Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Rhône, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Vosges, Yonne and the Territoire de Belfort.

A strong rainy-stormy episode who crosses “a large part of the country”circulating “from southwest to northeast” of France, according to the institute. “In addition to intense electrical activity, these storms can cause violent gusts of wind, hail and heavy accumulations of rain in a short period of time.”he warns again.

“It can be very violent”, warned Alix Roumagnac, president of the company Predict, the risks subsidiary of Météo-France, Saturday on franceinfo. He explains the phenomenon by “cold drop” or a pocket of fresh air “which comes from Portugal”. Temperatures have increased in France this week. Gold, “the differential between the very warm temperature on the ground and then the cold air at altitude causes this rapid convection”resulting in violent storms.

In Doubs, the “Rencontre et racines” festival in Audincourt was cancelled, after welcoming 14,000 festival-goers on Friday. “We don’t take risks with the safety of festival-goers,” declared Mathieu Sabarly, director of the festival, to France 3. Strasbourg town hall has decided to close its parks and cemeteries from 5 p.m. “All the conditions are in place for us to experience violent but brief storm episodes”warned Loïc Alter, president of Météo Suivi Alsace on Friday on France 3. “Large hailstones, sometimes up to 6 cm, could fall on certain localities”, he detailed. In Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), the concerts of MC Solaar and IAM were canceled.

Faced with the risk of storms, all TER trains are cancelled in the Grand Est from 7 p.m., with the exception of two lines in Alsace: Strasbourg-Basel and Mulhouse-Belfort, reports France Bleu Alsace. In this region, “the storms will be particularly virulent”, anticipates Météo-France. Added to this is a possibility of cumulative rain (50 to 80 mm), very strong gusts of wind (between 100 to 120 km/h occasionally) and large hail, as well as intense electrical activity.

Still according to Météo-France, “violent phenomena” could also be observed “towards the Center-East” : are expected to “high rainfall intensities of 20 to 30 mm/h” with some “accumulations locally exceeding 60 mm”as well as “some small to medium sized hail” and “gusts of wind that could locally exceed 80km/h”.

In Deux-Sèvres, a total of 35 firefighters intervened around fifteen times, notably on three fires and the fall of a tree struck by lightning. A video of the event, filmed in Augé, was posted around 2 p.m. on Facebook.

Lightning notably caused three fires in the Parthenay sector, on an electric meter, a shed, as well as a structural fire which was extinguished before the arrival of emergency services. The residents were able to return to their homes.

Even “explosive weather cocktail”, composed of thunderstorms, hail and rain in Switzerland, where the start of thunderstorm activity is expected until late evening. Some Fan zones where thousands of supporters had planned to watch Switzerland v Italy in the last 16 of the Euro in Berlin have been closed. Switzerland has already experienced violent storms and exceptional rainfall on June 21, killing at least one person and causing significant damage.


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