An orange “thunderstorms” alert has been triggered for the day on Saturday in 34 departments while a strong stormy episode will cross most of the country, indicates Météo France.
The meteorological services have also placed 14 departments on orange alert for “storms” for Sunday in the Grand-Est.
Saturday at 6 a.m., the departments of Tarn, Aveyron, Lot, Cantal, Allier and Ain went into orange “thunderstorm” alert for this Saturday afternoon. Puy-de-Dôme, Loire and Rhône were added to the list at 10 a.m.
Lightning comes from Spain
They thus joined the 25 departments that were already there: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Cher, Gironde, Landes, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, and all the departments of Grand Est and Burgundy-Franche -County.
“The high-altitude depression at the origin of the stormy weather is currently moving up over Spain towards the Pyrenees,” Météo France said on Saturday morning.
The East affected at the end of the day
These storms are expected to hit Auvergne Rhône-Alpes in the afternoon, bringing heavy rain, sometimes hail and powerful gusts of wind.
They will head towards Burgundy Franche-Comté at the beginning of the evening, to reach the Grand-Est in the evening, with still heavy rains, violent gusts of wind and hail, particularly in the north-east of the country where these storms will be the most violent.
Strong winds and storm alert: closure of large parks and cemeteries in Strasbourg
Due to the orange alert for thunderstorms accompanied by strong gusts of wind, the City of Strasbourg announced in a press release that it has decided as a precautionary measure to close the following six parks from 5 p.m.: Pourtalès, Orangerie, Contades, Citadelle, Schulmeister and Albert Schweitzer.
The nine municipal cemeteries in Strasbourg will also be closed, the press release states.
Their reopening will depend on the evolution of weather conditions and will be the subject of new information, the City also indicates.
