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WEATHER

North-east France placed under high flood alert

Departments of north-eastern France were placed under a high alert for flooding on Monday, with water levels expected to rise into the evening.

North-east France placed under high flood alert
The flooded city of Dijon on Saturday. Photo: Philippe Desmazes/AFP

The north-eastern departments of Yonne, Marne and Haute-Marne have been placed under orange alert – the second highest threat level – by France’s meteorological service Metéo France.

French daily Le Parisien reports that water levels are expected to rise throughout the afternoon and this evening.

By Monday afternoon, water levels were predicted to rise by 40cm from Monday morning's levels in Joigny and by as much as 60-90cm by this evening in Sens, in the Burgundy region.

The Yonne river and its two tributaries, the Armançon and the Serein, continued to rise throughout Monday.

In a statement, police in the department of Yonne said they would remain vigilant, conducting surveillance of the affected zones and increasing security, particularly among residents living below ground level.  

Showers are also expected in the east and south of the department, the statement continued, but should not have any effect on the level of the flooding.

Meanwhile, the nearby Ile-de-France region is expected to remain in the clear, with only minor risks of flooding.

The latest warnings come after a week of torrential rain and flooding.

On Saturday, areas of eastern France were evacuated after torrential rain hit the Burgundy region. The city of Dijon was among the worst affected, with residents ordered to leave their homes to escape the approaching flood waters from the Ouche river.

On Sunday at least 80 houses in 40 communes surrounding the districts of Tonnerre and Chablis in Burgundy were flooded, in what has been considered the worst flooding since 2001.

On May 2nd, a nine-year-old boy was swept away in a swollen river in Drôme, in south-eastern France and on May 1st part of a bridge collapsed over the Isère river due to heavy rain and increased water levels cause by melting snow. 

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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.

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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