A ‘very active’ weather system is responsible for heavy rain and snow in parts of southern France and has prompted national forecaster Météo-France to issue severe weather alerts for six départements.
Ardèche is under an orange alert for “rain and flooding”, Aveyron and Tarn are under an orange alert for “snow and ice” and “river flooding”, Hérault and Lozère are under a “river flood” alert, and Var is under an orange alert for “rain and flooding”.
Anyone living and working in départements under an orange weather warning — the second highest level — is urged to be “very vigilant”.
“Dangerous phenomena are expected. Keep informed of developments and follow the safety advice issued by public authorities,” Météo-France explains in its description of orange weather warnings on its website.
During orange or red weather alerts, préfectures and town halls will use local and social media to issue regular advice and updates on staying safe based on the conditions at the time.
Certain protocols will be triggered during orange alerts to ensure vulnerable people are more closely monitored and kept safe. For example, in a cold snap, cities might open up extra homeless shelters.
“A very active weather system moved up from the Mediterranean over the south of the country on Sunday, bringing significant rainfall. In the Ardèche Cévennes mountains, the precipitation eased considerably in the morning,” Météo-France warned in its early morning bulletin on Monday.
The forecaster said that, in the Ardèche Cévennes region, rainfall totals of 60 to 100mm, and locally up to 180 mm, were recorded in the 24 hours up to 6am on Monday.
In Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, “the heaviest rainfall is expected in the Var department, but could also affect the Bouches-du-Rhône department, where a worsening of the alert level cannot be ruled out,” the agency said.
“In the Var department, rain, sometimes thundery and locally heavy, continued until midday and could resume in the evening,” it added.
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Total rainfall could reach 100 to 120 mm, and locally up to 130 to 160 mm is possible in the southern part of the department before conditions improve on Monday evening.
“In the Tarn and Aveyron departments, a period of snowfall began late Sunday night into Monday. Significant snow accumulations are expected even at low altitudes.”
Accumulations of up to 15cm of snow at altitudes higher than 400m are forecast in eastern Tarn, rising to 20cm above 600m and 30cm to 40cm above 800m, Météo-France said. Snowfall is expected to continue through to Tuesday morning.
Deteriorating conditions are also likely in the Hérault, where several rivers burst their banks on Sunday, with “significant rainfall totals”.