On Thursday, heavy rain and flooding in southern France led to road closures, train cancellations and well as school closures.
French national weather service Météo France placed four départements in south-eastern France on the highest (red) weather warning due to heavy rains and flooding. These are; Rhône, Loire, Ardèche, and Haute-Loire.
Meanwhile, 20 other southern départements were placed on orange alert.
Authorities have warned that people should not walk or drive anywhere near a flooded road or waterway.
Be sure to pay attention to signage, particularly if there is a route barrée (road closure) sign.
Travel disruption
The Rhône prefecture closed the A47 motorway on Thursday morning, at Givors in the direction of Saint-Etienne/ Lyon. Several roads in the département were also closed, including D488, D502, D103 and D342.
As for rail travel, SNCF Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes announced on their website that trains running on the Lyon/St-Etienne/Firminy/Le Puy route have been halted since 10am due to worsening weather conditions.
They advised that people "stay where you are this evening if you can" and that "traffic will not be able to resume until tomorrow, Friday, at the earliest."
Rail traffic was also halted on several lines north and northeast of Toulouse due to "strong winds, rain and storms", according to SNCF Occitanie.
"In order to ensure the safety of passengers and staff, there will be a complete halt to traffic on the Toulouse-Rodez,Toulouse-Mazamet,Rodez-Brive, Montauban-Cahors-Brive, Figeac-Aurillac routes throughout the day (Thursday, October 17th).
"No road substitutions will be made available", SNCF Occitanie announced on X on Wednesday.
How can I find out if my area is affected by rail or road disruption?
Préfectures and town halls will use local and social media (X/ Twitter of Facebook account) to issue regular advice, information about road and school closures, as well as updates on staying safe. They may also list crisis centres, if necessary.
If your département is on red alert you should closely follow local media such as local radio stations, or the social media or your local préfecture or mairie and follow their instructions if an order is given to evacuate.
To keep track of weather warnings, you should go to the 'Vigilance' page of Météo France HERE.
As for train disruption, for local trains, go to the regional SNCF website or Twitter account for updates. For TGV trains, you can check on the SNCF-Connect website.
What is the weather situation?
Météo France has warned that intense rains, particularly in the Gard, Lozère, Ardèche, Loire and Haute-Loire départements, could continue until the end of the day on Thursday, with 70 to 100mm of rain expected, and locally up to 130 mm.
They also noted that in the Alpes-Maritimes and Var départements, rainfall could get up to 70 to 80mm, with intense periods, though calm is expected by Thursday night.
As for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Hautes-Pyrénées areas, the forecasters warned that persistent precipitation could lead to 70 to 100 mm of rainfall.
Generally, the forecasters expected that rain and storms will last until Friday morning in the rest of the south-west.
Schools and nursery (crèche) centres were closed on Thursday in parts of Ardèche and Alpes-Maritimes.
Comment: Update October 18
Reuters reports: