Météo-France has placed twenty-eight departments on orange alert for Thursday February 22 due to Storm Louis, most of them for violent winds. Twenty-six departments of Île-de-France, Normandy, Hauts-de-France, Eure-et-Loir, Grand Est, as well as New Aquitaine and Occitanie are affected by this alert, according to the organization’s midday bulletin.
Orange rain-flood vigilance will also concern Deux-Sèvres and Vendée. This turbulent weather, mixing wind and rain, will be accompanied by a return of snow to the mountains.
The storm will deepen in the afternoon in the Channel then in the North Sea, explains Météo France. “In its wake, heavy rains accompanied by violent gusts will occur over a large northern half of the country, more particularly in the departments placed on orange alert. These violent gusts will also occur at the foot of the Pyrenees,” writes the organization.
The wind will blow strongly, particularly in the orange departments, and strengthen in the afternoon “reaching 90 to 110 km/h inland, sometimes 120 km/h”, according to Météo France which specifies that “these winds can take on a swirling appearance.” On the coasts, gusts could reach 120 to 130 km/h.
Disrupted traffic and suspension of trains
The storm pushed the SNCF to suspend the running of certain trains. These traffic suspensions, intended to “guarantee the safety of all”, concern TER lines in Hauts-de-France (Béthune – Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise; Arras – Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise; Beauvais-Abancourt- Le Tréport; Amiens-Compiègne; Creil-Beauvais and Paris-Laon).
“The resumption of traffic on these lines will be effective Friday during the morning,” she said. “Disruptions” are also expected on Thursday in Brittany on the Quimper-Brest and Saint Brieuc-Lannion lines due to the risk of “strong winds”.