Orange rain and flood warnings issued for eight southeastern French departments

Météo-France announced that the severe weather pattern will persist over southeastern France and move toward Corsica, prompting orange vigilance for rain-related flooding and storms in eight departments on Tuesday. The regions under alert are Hérault, Gard, Lozère, Bouches-du-Rhône, Ardèche, Vaucluse, Var and Haute-Corse, all of which were already on high alert for river flooding. Meteorologists expect rainfall rates of up to 70 mm within an hour, wind gusts up to 80 km/h and occasional hail, with the possibility of tornado-like phenomena.

Departments further north, including Aude, Aveyron, Pyrénées-Orientales and Corse-du-Sud, are currently on yellow but may see their warnings upgraded. Cumulative totals for the episode could reach 200-250 mm, or 300 mm locally, and a red alert remains possible if conditions worsen. The storm system is tied to the cold drop named “Adam” over Spain, where torrential rains have already caused a woman's death near Barcelona.