Heavy rain and strong winds have caused major disruption across many parts of southern France with almost a year's worth of rain falling on the Hérault department, home to the Mediterranean towns of Montpellier and Béziers.

"/> Heavy rain and strong winds have caused major disruption across many parts of southern France with almost a year's worth of rain falling on the Hérault department, home to the Mediterranean towns of Montpellier and Béziers.

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WEATHER

One year’s worth of rain in four days

Heavy rain and strong winds have caused major disruption across many parts of southern France with almost a year's worth of rain falling on the Hérault department, home to the Mediterranean towns of Montpellier and Béziers.

Published: 4 November 2011 14:24 CET

National weather agency Météo France still had orange alerts in place, one step down from its maximum red alert, across ten southern departments on Friday morning. 

Cities including Marseille, Montpellier and Lyon were all affected by the weather, which Météo France expects to worsen again on Friday evening.

In the Hérault region, 70 centimetres (27.5 inches) of rain fell in four days.

The river Hérault avoided bursting its banks and flooding the village of Laroque after rain eased overnight, although more is expected later in the day.

Elsewhere, people were evacuated from their homes as the danger of flooding increased.

A number of schools were closed across the region on Friday as transport was made impossible by flooded roads. Train services have also been disrupted and drivers have been warned to exercise “extreme caution.”

France Télécom said in a statement it had mobilized 1,000 engineers to deal with network problems caused by the storms. The company said 4,000 lines had been cut off in the Languedoc-Roussillon region on Thursday.

Ecology minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said the storms were exceptional. She advised local residents to avoid driving or walking on flooded roads.

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WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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