Warnings as gales and snow hit parts of France

The départements of Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées were placed under orange alert on Friday morning for rain and possible flooding and Gers for strong winds and flooding.

Meanwhile, Ain, le Doubs, Isère, Jura, Savoie and Haute-Savoie were on alert for snow and black ice and Landes for strong winds. 

Around 27,500 homes were also left without electricity in south west France due to winds of over 100 km/h on Thursday night, according to the French electricity operator ERDF.

These include 12,000 homes in Aquitaine, 15,500 in Midi-Pyrénées, 8,000 in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 5,000 in Hautes-Pyrénées and 5,000 in Haute-Garonne, ERDF spokesperson Frédéric Boutaud told Le Parisien.

The weather alert will last until 6am on Saturday morning.

There is also a risk of avalanches in the Alps, with between 50 à 80 cm of snowfall expected between now and Friday night at an altitude of 1,500m and 1m of snow above 1,500m.

Injuries have also been reported with four motorists injured in traffic accidents in Landes due to fallen trees. In Pyrénées-Atlantiques a carpenter was seriously injured when he fell six metres while replacing riles on a roof.