Twenty-three departments in the West and North affected by Storm Austen now placed on orange alert for violent winds

Météo-France placed 23 departments on orange “wind” vigilance, Friday October 23, according to its latest vigilance bulletin. This alert is linked to storm Austen, which appeared in the Iroise Sea during the night from Thursday to Friday, and which will then 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.

In detail, the departments concerned by orange vigilance are Aisne, Calvados, Côtes-d'Armor, Eure, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Atlantique, Manche, Morbihan, 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.

The institute noted “gusts greater than 100 km/h at the most exposed stations on the west coast, and around 70 and 90 km/h in the interior of the department” in Finistère at midnight. He predicts “gusts reaching 100 to 110 km/h inland, and up to 130/140 km/h in coastal areas” in Brittany. The expected gusts are 100 to 110 km/h inland, and 120 km/h on the coast of the rest of the departments concerned, except in Île-de-France, where we expect 80 to 90 km/h. The English Channel “will be particularly affected by this episode with gusts of up to 120 km/h inland (and 130 to 140 km/h on the coast)”.

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.