“Here’s summer, here’s summer… Here’s summer, I see the sun, the clouds are passing and the sky is clearing.” Contrary to what Les Négresses vertes sang in 1988, France is having a little trouble seeing summer coming. This Thursday, numerous thunderstorms and sometimes heavy rain are still expected across the country. However, the situation seems to be improving according to forecasts from Météo-France, which lifted the last orange thunderstorm alerts this Thursday. Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire remain in raw orange vigilance.
Surveillance will be particularly strong on the Oudon, a river which crosses the two departments of Pays-de-la-Loire, which is always on alert. Wednesday, several towns in the neighboring area of Châteaubriant had already been flooded.
Since the start of the day, the weather has been unsettled with sometimes heavy rain. Accumulated rain will sometimes be significant, particularly in eastern Languedoc, northern PACA and Rhône-Alpes. In the afternoon, stormy showers will remain frequent but will be a little less widespread. The southerly wind will sometimes be sustained with gusts of up to 80 to 100 km/h on the terrain of the Massif Central and the Alps, 80 to 90 km/h in the Lyon region.
Clearer skies this weekend?
Minimums are expected around 10°C from Brittany to the Belgian border, around 15 to 20°C elsewhere. The maximums will still reach 32 to 37°C in Corsica, 29 to 32°C in the south of PACA, they will be lower elsewhere with 20 to 25°C in general, locally 19°C near the Channel.
The sky should clear more on Friday and Saturday but showers are still expected in places. Good weather should be widespread across the country from Sunday.