Overview

• After 28 departments were placed on orange alert Wednesday, most were downgraded to yellow overnight, with a core group kept orange until 06:00 Thursday.
• Var and Bouches‑du‑Rhône remain on orange for thunderstorms and rain‑flooding through midday Thursday per the 06:00 bulletin.
• Météo‑France forecasts 20–40 mm of rain in one hour, up to 50 mm, with local totals of 50–80 mm over the episode, plus hail and gusts reaching 70–80 km/h, locally 90–100 km/h.
• Emergency services evacuated about 770 people from a Nièvre campsite after violent winds, and a woman in her 40s died following a tree fall reported during the storms.
• Atlantic departments stay on yellow for waves and coastal flooding risk, with recent 4–5 m swell prompting temporary beach access restrictions.