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WEATHER

Central France on alert for violent storms as man swept away in floods

One man is missing after storms battered parts of central France on Tuesday night. Some 12 departments have been placed on alert on Wednesday with the public warned to be vigilant.

Published: 14 June 2017 09:04 CEST
Central France on alert for violent storms as man swept away in floods
Photo: AFP

The missing man is believed to be a farmer who was swept away in his tractor by a torrent of flood water after storms hit the department of Haute-Loire in south central France.

The 27-year-old was swept away on Tuesday afternoon in the village of Brignon. According to reports he was helping firefighters find a way to a house an elderly person who was stranded due to flood waters when his vehicle was swept away.

Rescue teams continued to search for him on Wednesday morning.

Two kayakers were also reported missing in the same area but have since been accounted for.

Villages in the department were badly hit by hail stones, strong winds and floods after river levels rose rapidly following downpours.

Houses were submerged and cars were taken away by the powerful torrents. Roads were left blocked by fallen trees.

 

On Wednesday it was the turn of 12 departments in the south and east of the country to be placed on Orange alert for violent storms (see map below)

 

 

An orange alert warning for storms means the public are asked to be vigilant especially when travelling and taking part in leisure activities.

 

 

 

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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