Strong thunderstorms are forecast this Saturday in the south west of France. Météo France places 8 departments on orange vigilance alert. Landes, Gironde and the Occitanie region, the Gers, the Lot, and the Tarn et Garonne are particularly affected by this call for vigilance. All the former departments of the Midi Pyrénées region, from the Hautes Pyrénées to Aveyron via Tarn or Haute Garonne are on yellow alert for this risk of violent storms.
At the origin of this storm front: a depression over the Bay of Biscay will generate a rainy-stormy episode in the South-West this afternoon and this evening indicates Météo France in its alert bulletin. The most violent storms will mainly affect the departments placed on orange alert, but strong storms are possible in neighboring departments. A extension of orange vigilance to some neighboring departments is not excluded at this stage. It is therefore advisable to keep informed of developments, commented forecasters on Saturday morning.
Météo France explains this move to orange vigilance alert in the southwest for “ a risk of violent phenomena (hail, strong electrical activity, strong gusts of wind and heavy accumulations of rain)”.
This afternoon and evening of Saturday, sometimes strong thunderstorms will circulate over the southwest of the country. These storms will present intense electrical activity, which may cause violent gusts of wind (80 to 100 km/h), heavy precipitation and hail. As we progress towards the Massif Central, the rainy nature will take precedence over the electrical activity.
