Violent storms battered southern and eastern France on Friday and left 31 departments on alert.
An 84-year-old man died after being swept away in flood waters near the town of Saint-Palais in the Basque region as heavy rain hit the region. Regional newspaper Sud-Ouest reported that thousands of households were also left without electricity.
The country’s meteorological association Meteo France has called on residents to be vigilant in areas where there is a high risk of storms.
They are warning people to take precaution against being struck by lightning and take care on the roads.
“The storms will be accompanied by gale force winds, heavy rain and hail as well as lightning,” Météo France said.
Le niveau très haut de la Nive à Bidarray ce matin pic.twitter.com/A4BG3B1EwT
— France3 euskal herri (@F3euskalherri) July 4, 2014
The violent storms are set to spread from the south west towards the south east throughout the day.
The alerts are in place until Friday 11pm although the situation may change throughout the course of the day.
The departments placed on Orange alert by Météo France are as follows: l'Allier, la Côte-d'Or, la Haute-Marne, la Nièvre, la Saône-et-Loire et les Vosges, l'Ain, la Drôme, l'Isère, le Rhône, la Savoie, la Haute-Savoie, l'Ardèche, l'Aude, l'Aveyron, les Bouches-du-Rhône, le Cantal, le Gard, l'Hérault, la Loire, la Haute-Loire, la Lozère, le Puy-de-Dôme and le Vaucluse.
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