Storm Pedro: New Departments on Alert for Floods, Strong Winds, Waves… the Forecasts this Thursday

New departments are on orange flood alert, and the alert is maintained in the most affected areas. Gusts of wind will also bring their share of waves.

That’s it, Storm Pedro is indeed here : just one week after the passage of the storm Nils, a new burst of bad weather, and in particular a significant gust of wind, is coming in France, particularly on the Atlantic coast.

Thunderstorms and rains, which will fall in a context of soil water saturation, will not accelerate the decline either. So, Thursday 19th February, Météo France maintains the same four departments on maximum alert for flooding, namely the Charente-maritime and the region of Saints, the Maine-et-Loire and the region from angers, but also the Garonne and the sectors of Bordeaux and Libourne, in Gironde, as well as lot-et-garonne.

🔴 Maintien #VigilanceRouge sur les dép. #Maine-et-Loire (49), #Charente maritime (17), #LotEtGaronne (47) #Gironde (33).
🟠Nombreuses rivières en #VigilanceOrange.
➡️https://t.co/gkZBt684iH et l’appli. pic.twitter.com/10Lx8iBhd7
— Vigicrues (@Vigicrues) February 18, 2026

Floods, waves and strong winds: forecasts

But the rest of the territory is not left out, and the map of the organization Vigicrues is punctuated with rivers ready to overflow. So, the meteorological agency has placed 12 departments on orange flood alert for Thursday in its 10 a.m. bulletin.

Charente
Finistère
Haute-vienne
Ille-et-Vilaine
Landes
Loire-atlantique
Mayenne
Morbihan
Orne
Sarthe
Vendée
Vienna

Pour jeudi 19 février 2026 :
🔴 4 départements en Vigilance rouge
🟠 18 départements en Vigilance orange
Pour vendredi 20 février 2026 :
🔴 4 départements en Vigilance rouge
🟠 18 départements en Vigilance orange
Restez prudents et informés :https://t.co/JGz4rTV3xn pic.twitter.com/sDe2BMshQk
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) February 19, 2026

The violent winds brought by storm Pedro, with gusts expected up to 130 km/h on the Atlantic coast, even 140 km/h in Occitanie and Corsica, will combine with a high tide: significant and potentially destructive waves are expected on part of the coastline. Météo France has therefore switched 8 departments to yellow wave-submersion alert – they were in orange again this morning :

Charente-Maritime
Corse-du-Sud
Côte D’Armor
Finistère
Gironde
Landes
Loire-Atlantique
Manche
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Vendée

The departments of Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales are, for their part, placed in orange alert for “wind”, just like Andorra.

Several departments are also on orange alert for winds:

It will therefore be necessary to stay away from the coastal edge in these regions, and be careful of erosion and potential collapse of the shore in the coming days as was the case in Biscarosse a few weeks ago.

These rains, gusts and high tides should also slow the decline of already historically high rivers. The water which flows, for example, through the Garonne towards the sea will find itself accumulating on the coastal edge, since the sea will be much higher. This will make it difficult for water to flow into the ocean. So it delays the decline even more”, deciphered meteorologist Yann Amice in this article.

The South-West should be strongly impacted by the storm, according to the expert. Furthermore, in the Alps, precipitation and snow will keep the alert on avalanches during school holidays. 4 departments are in fact still on orange alert this Thursday. These are Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Hautes-Alpes and Isère.

Hiking and off-piste hiking in these areas should therefore be avoided.