Twenty departments in the West and North placed on orange alert for violent winds due to Storm Austen

Finistère, Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique are no longer placed on orange “wind” vigilance, according to the latest Météo-France bulletin, published Friday October 23. The alert linked to Storm Austen only concerns 20 departments now.

In detail, the departments are Aisne, Calvados, Côtes-d'Armor, Eure, Ille-et-Vilaine, Manche, Nord, Oise, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Paris, Seine-Maritime, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Somme, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Val-d’Oise.

Gusts of 130/140 km/h announced in Brittany

Appearing in the Iroise Sea during the night from Thursday to Friday, storm Austen was then expected to sweep across the Channel. “To the south of the depression, an episode of strong and stormy wind developed during the night from Thursday to Friday then will shift eastward during the day on Friday,” notes the forecaster.

The institute predicts “gusts reaching 100 to 110 km/h inland, and up to 130/140 km/h in coastal areas” in Brittany. In other regions, the expected gusts are 100 to 110 km/h inland, and 120 km/h on the coast, except in Île-de-France, where winds blowing 80 to 90 km/h were forecast.

Météo-France does not rule out a possible worsening of vigilance. “The rain which will circulate during the day on Friday will be relatively sustained over basins in the west of Pas-de-Calais, already weakened by the rains of previous days,” specifies the bulletin.