Var, Alpes-Maritimes and three other departments on orange alert for storms

After the “heatwave”, the lightning and thunder. The Var and the Alpes-Maritimes are placed on orange alert for thunderstorms, Thursday August 20 from 1 p.m., Météo-France reported in its 10 a.m. bulletin. Accumulations between 50 mm and 120 mm, at the height of the stormy episode, are expected, according to the same source. “Hail, strong gusts and significant electrical activity are also forecast. Calm expected in the second part of the night from Thursday to Friday,” specifies the forecaster.

As announced earlier Thursday by the forecaster, these departments join those of Ardèche, Drôme and Isère, whose alert begins, for their part, at 3 p.m. “These storms may not be very mobile and lead to significant accumulations (up to 80/100 mm). Hail, strong gusts and significant electrical activity are also expected.”

"In a south-eastern portion of the country, the heat wave (...) ends this Thursday in connection with a clear deterioration of storms. Several bursts of storms, sometimes strong, will follow one another between this Thursday afternoon and this Friday morning", notes Météo-France.

Friday, from 6 a.m., the two departments of Corsica will also be affected by an orange storm alert. They “could give violent gusts with heavy precipitation and hail as well as significant lightning”, anticipates the forecaster.