Météo-France placed ten departments located in the south-west on Friday June 3 on orange vigilance, alerting of “a high risk” of hail and gusts of wind. The departments concerned are: Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aveyron, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Lot, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne.

“These storms could be locally violent, characterized by a pronounced risk of strong gusts and large hailstorms” , warns Météo-France in its press release . The gusts of wind can reach 100 to 120 km / h in certain places and hailstorms could be “locally heavy” . The accumulations of precipitation are likely to reach 20 to 40 millimeters per hour, “or even more” . During the afternoon, these strong storms will progress towards the departments of the North-East and will lose activity when arriving on the Massif Central, adds the press release.

Chance of thunderstorms over the weekend

Météo-France advises, during these stormy episodes, to move away from trees and waterways, to take shelter in a solid building, to avoid moving around, to protect goods exposed to the wind and which may be flooded and avoid using telephones and electrical devices.

While Bison smart anticipates a busy Pentecost weekend on the roads, with in particular a Red Friday in the direction of departures, Météo-France calls for being “particularly careful” and for regularly monitoring its vigilance bulletins. The risk of sometimes violent thunderstorms will persist until Sunday.