Weather: Ten departments in orange vigilance for "rain-flood" or "floods"

(Illustration) Flood for a few meters in a street in Auby, July 4. — FRANCOIS GREUEZ/SIPA

 Heavy rains continue this Thursday in the east of the country. Ten departments have been placed in orange vigilance by Météo-France. An orange "rain-flood" vigilance is underway in Haute-Marne, Haute-Saône, Doubs and Jura,due to a new episode "heavily rainy", "unusual for the season, concerning large territories". The Aisne, the Ardennes,the Marne, the Meuse, the Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Vosges are on orange alert for floods. The measure was lifted for six other departments (Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Bas-Rhin, Vosges and Territoire-de-Belfort).

#vigilanceOrange Les pluies abondantes ont débuté sur le Grand Est ce mercredi après-midi. Elles se prolongent jusqu'à jeudi mi-journée.

⚠️ Soyez prudents et restez informés https://t.co/w5OGXbEEhP https://t.co/Fx7rlQ1YVx

— Météo-France (@meteofrance) July 14, 2021

The new rainy episode is "worrying" because "it comes 24 hours after an already significant rainy episode, on saturated soils, accentuating the phenomena of runoff", writes the institute. For example, in Franche-Comté, 40 to 70 mm of rain have already fallen on Tuesday in 24 hours.

Beginning of calm in the afternoon

In the morning, heavy rains will continue on the departments placed in orange vigilance, with lower intensities in the afternoon. The lull observed in the north will then continue its slow progression towards the south. For Haute-Marne and Haute-Saône, it will be necessary to wait until this afternoon for the rains to decrease. On the Doubs and Jura, the return to calm should not take place before the night of Thursday to Friday.

Elsewhere, the sky will still be very cloudy with a few showers. However, in the afternoon, lightning will develop in the south-western plains. In the morning, temperatures will range from 10 to 17 degrees, up to 18 to 21 degrees near the Mediterranean. In the afternoon, it will be 17 to 26 degrees over most areas, up to 27 to 31 degrees around the Big Blue.