Météo France places 21 departments on Orange alert for violent winds this Monday, January 6. Gusts mainly between 90 and 110 km/h are expected and a peak of disturbances is expected at midday.
The bad weather should be short-lived but intense under the effect of storm Floriane. 21 departments in the northern half of the country are placed on orange alert for strong winds this Monday, January 6 according to the latest Météo France bulletin. The disruptions began during the night from Sunday to Monday with the arrival of the storm off the Atlantic coast of Vendée. Significant gusts of between 70 and 100 km/h on average have already been recorded and peaks close to 110 or even exceeding 120 km/h have been observed locally. In Normandy, meteorological antennas recorded gusts of 107 km/h in Cherbourg and 124 km/h in Barfleur (Manche) or even 113 km/h in Fécamp (Seine-Maritime). The Rhône valley is also affected with gusts of 114 km/h in Isère.
The violent winds from Storm Floriane reached a first peak during the night and, after a visible lull this morning, a second peak is expected at midday according to forecasts. “We will be able to locally reach values around 110 to 120 km/h” according to Météo France.
Storm Floriane which arrived from the west during the night from Sunday to Monday “will circulate quickly but intensely during the day Monday along an axis starting from Vendée to the Ardennes via Ile-de-France “, warns Météo France. The disturbances should shift “towards the Paris region at midday then towards the north-eastern regions at the start of the afternoon, to quickly evacuate towards Belgium”, add the meteorologists. Orange alerts are supposed to end around 3 p.m. according to current forecasts from Météo France.
In detail, here are the 21 departments in orange vigilance: Meuse, Ardennes, Marne, Aisne, Seine et Marne, Val d'Oise, Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine , Seine-Saint-Denis, Essonne, Paris, Yvelines, Eure-et-Loire, Loiret, Loire-et-Cher, Sarthe, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire and Vendée. We must also add the two southern departments to be placed on alert: Rhône and Loire. While the gusts of wind seem to favor a southern axis, Météo France invites “the departments bordering the departments placed on orange vigilance” to be vigilant because “the wind could blow strongly without however requiring a change of vigilance color for the time being” .
Vigilance on the roads
This orange vigilance comes a few hours after the death of a young 20-year-old motorist on the roads of Burgundy on Saturday evening. Côte-d'Or was placed on orange alert for snow and ice. Motorists who will be on the Rhône and Loire roads during the alert are invited to be particularly vigilant and adapt their speed.
Residents of the affected areas are also invited to protect their homes and well exposed to the wind, to stay informed, not to go to places where objects or trees could fall, not to intervene at height and to install generators outside the houses.
Transportation disruptions
Faced with storm Floriane, the SNCF decided to shut down some of its lines or portions of lines for several hours this Monday, January 6. This is mainly the case in Hauts-de-France. But other TER and RER lines must also be impacted around and in the Paris metropolis. The RER C, D and E, for example, experience traffic slowdowns or even stops during the day, generally between mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Same thing for Transiliens L, N, J, R, K and U.
