Pas-de-Calais Placed on Orange Flood Alert for Saturday Night

Overview

• Météo‑France issued an orange vigilance for rain and flooding in Pas-de-Calais for Saturday night, with the warning running until around 04:00 on Sunday and some bulletins listing a start at 20:00 while others list 21:00.
• Forecasters expect roughly 30–50 mm of additional rain during the episode and said local totals could exceed 50 mm on parts of the department such as the Boulonnais and Montreuillois.
• The alert follows storm Austen, which hit the west and north of France earlier and left more than 240,000 households without power and forced regional TER train suspensions.
• Seven neighboring departments — Aisne, Ardennes, Eure, Manche, Marne, Nord and Seine‑Maritime — were moved to yellow vigilance as authorities tracked the widening episode.
• Officials warned that repeated rain on waterlogged soils raises runoff and river rise risks, and they urged residents to follow Météo‑France updates and local safety instructions because floods can quickly affect roads, power and local services.