Storm Amélie: 17 Departments on Orange Alert, Winds of More Than 150 km/h Registered

General News
At the passage of the Storm Amélie, gusts at 149 km / h were recorded in the night from Saturday to Sunday

Thunderstorms, wind, rain and floods. The passage of the storm Amélie brings its lot of bad weather conditions. We take stock of the situation this Sunday 3rd November

he first autumn storm of the year, dubbed Amélie, fell on France this weekend, with strong winds recorded in the night from Saturday 2nd to Sunday, November 3rd, 2019. 

In its 6-hour bulletin, Sunday, Météo France placed Sunday 17 departments in orange alert , two more than the day before.

Strong winds, thunderstorms and rain-flood

15 departments remain concerned by the orange vigilance for strong winds, on the coast of the Vendée in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques , causing strong waves on the coast, as well as Poitou-Charente in the Massif Central . In detail, are concerned:

  • Vendee
  • Charente-Maritime
  • Gironde
  • The Charente
  • The Landes
  • The Pyrénées-Atlantiques
  • The Deux-Sèvres
  • Vienna
  • L’Allier
  • the Cantal
  • Corrèze
  • Creuse
  • Dordogne
  • Puy-de-Dome
  • Haute-Vienne

Read also: Amélie Storm in Gironde: all District games are cancelled




The departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Southern Corsica are in orange alert for storms and rain-flood. These two departments are also on yellow alert for risk of wave-submersion, as the coastline of the Charente-Maritime to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, where strong waves are expected.

Winds over 150 km / h

Strong gusts were expected, up to 130 km / h in Charente Maritimes and Gironde from 1am. In its bulletin, Météo France reports having recorded winds up to 149km / h at Cap-Ferret (Gironde), 146 km / h at Belle-Ile-en-Mer (Morbihan), 111 km / h at Royan (Charente- Maritime), 106 km / h in Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), 105 km / h in Pauillac (Gironde) and 121 km / h in Biscarrosse (Landes).

According to Keraunos, the French observatory of thunderstorms and tornadoes, gusts at Cap-Ferret reached up to 163 km / h , and 120 at Bordeaux-Mérignac.

This stormy episode is still ongoing and bursts are still expected, the strongest on the coast of the departments of Charente-Maritime and Gironde with winds over 140 km / h, “even very punctually a little more”, expected. Météo France adds:

“Inland and on a coastal fringe of the Landes and Pyrénées Atlantiques are expected to 110/120 km/h. On the Massif Central, the gusts will be rather of the order of 90 to 110 km/h, 130 km/h on the relief. With foliage still present on the trees currently many branches falls are to be feared.”

For the other departments placed in vigilance for the wind bursts of 80/90 km/h and perhaps gusts of 100 are planned.

In the Vendée and Poitou, after the rainy-stormy episode accompanied by strong gusts in the night night, new strong gusts are “still possible during the morning under showers”.

Storm in the Alpes-Maritimes and Corsica

“Thunderstorms from the Mediterranean will explode this morning on a large southern part of the Alpes-Maritimes department” warned Meteo France. Hail and strong gusts are expected and these storms can give “40 to 50 mm in less than one hour, and locally a little more under the most violent”.

Over the entire episode, 60 to 80 mm are expected, with locally 100 to 120 mm or 140 mm in Corsica.

Read also: Amélie storm: risk of floods in Quimper

What evolution of the storm Amélie?

The depression must now shift eastward in the morning, this Sunday. The forecaster said that “on the Atlantic coast, the winds will remain very strong, in the land they will gradually lose intensity from the west over the hours. Tramontane and wind from a large, strong western sector will rise in the Mediterranean “.

These winds will weaken slightly over the hours during the day, the end of vigilance is expected at 16h.

Due to the strong waves expected along the coast, risks of submerging “on exposed or vulnerable parts” were expected between 7 am and 8 am, this Sunday, especially in the Bay of Biscay, at the time of the high seas It should be noted that the tidal coefficients remain low (51).


It is recalled that during such weather phenomena, it is advisable to remain cautious and limit its movements. Damage can affect electricity and telephone distribution networks. It is advisable to store any object exposed to the wind and pay attention to falling trees or other objects.

7500 households are deprived of electricity this Sunday in Charente and Charente-Maritime, according to Franceinfo , which states that the movement of trains is disrupted in Gironde.

Leave a Reply

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked *