Thunderstorms, Wind and High Risk of Flooding: Bad Weather Back in France, Forecasts for this Wednesday

Météo France placed almost all of France on alert on Wednesday February 18 for various phenomena. This includes the return of storms, heavy rain, and wind.

The flood is still not decreasing, this Wednesday 18th February 2026, in the three river zones placed on red alert by Météo-France. This is the Garonne, between Marmande and Langon, in Gironde and in the Lot-et-Garonne, from Charente to Saintes, in Charente-maritime, and around Angers, in the Maine-et-Loire.

These four departments are currently at a maximum level of vigilance, but they are not the only ones to be subject to a special attention by Vigicrues. This Wednesday, in the 10 a.m. bulletin of Météo France, 13 other departments are also on orange flood alert :

Charente
Finistère
Gers
Haute-garonne
Ille-et-Vilaine
Landes
Loire-atlantique
Mayenne
Morbihan
Orne
Sarthe
Tarn-et-Garonne
Vendée

Pour mercredi 18 février 2026 :
🔴 4 départements en Vigilance rouge
🟠 10 départements en Vigilance orange
Pour jeudi 19 février 2026 :
🔴 4 départements en Vigilance rouge
🟠 11 départements en Vigilance orange
Restez prudents et informés :https://t.co/JGz4rTV3xn pic.twitter.com/A5aIVax1F0
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) February 18, 2026

The beginnings of storm Pedro

The end of Wednesday will also mark the return of bad weather with the beginnings of storm Pedro. The weather will be particularly turbulent in Brittany, where finistère and Morbihan are placed on orange rain-flood alert.

Also note the return of snow:

In the morning, it will temporarily snow at low altitude from Upper Normandy and the south of Hauts de France towards the Grand-Est. We can expect 2 to 3 cm, locally 5 cm from the first heights. In the northern Alps, it snows above 1300/1500 m, above 1000 m in the morning on the Jura.
Météo-France

The wind will return, as will storms and rain. Meteorologists have therefore placed many departments on yellow alert, numbering 90:

Ain : wind, floods
Aisne : snow-ice, floods
Allier : wind, floods
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence avalanches
Hautes-alpes avalanches
Alpes-maritimes avalanches
Ardèche : floods
Ardennes : snow-ice, floods
Ariège : wind, avalanches
Dawn : floods
Aveyron : wind, rain-flood, floods
Calvados : rain-flood, floods
Cantal : wind, rain-flood, snow-ice, floods
Charente : wind, rain-flood, storms
Charente-maritime : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, waves-submersion
Dear : floods
Corrèze : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, floods
South Corsica avalanches
Upper Corsica avalanches
Gold Coast : floods
Côtes d’Armor : wind, rain-flood, floods
Dig : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, floods
Dordogne : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, floods
Doubs : floods
Drôme : floods
Eure : rain-flood, floods
Eure-et-loir : rain-flood, floods
Finistère : wind, storms, waves-submersion
Haute-garonne : wind, avalanches, floods
Gers : wind, storms, floods
Gironde : wind, rain-flood, storms
Ille-et-Vilaine : wind, rain-flood
Indre : wind, floods
Indre-et-loire : wind, floods
Isère : wind, avalanches, floods
Swore : floods
Landes : wind, rain-flood, storms
Loir-et-Cher : floods
Loire : wind, floods
Haute-loire wind
Loire-atlantique : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, waves-submersion
Loiret : floods
Lot : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, floods
Lot-et-Garonne : wind, rain-flood, storms
Maine-et-Loire : wind, rain-flood
Sleeve : rain-flood, floods
Marne : snow-ice, floods
Haute-marne : snow-ice, floods
Mayenne : rain-flood
Meurthe-et-Moselle : snow-ice
Meuse : snow-ice, floods
Morbihan : wind, storms, waves-submersion
Moselle : snow-ice, floods
Nièvre : floods
Oise : rain-flood, snow-ice, floods
Orne : rain-flood, floods
Puy-de-dôme : wind, rain-flood, snow-ice, floods
Pyrénées-atlantiques : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, avalanches, floods
Hautes-pyrénées : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, avalanches, floods
Pyrénées-orientales avalanches
Bas-rhin : snow-ice, floods
Haut-rhin : snow-ice, floods
Rhône : wind, floods
Saône-et-loire : floods
Sarthe : rain-flood
Savoy avalanches
Haute-savoie avalanches
Paris : rain-flood, floods
Seine-maritime : rain-flood, floods
Seine-et-marne : rain-flood, floods
Yvelines : rain-flood, floods
Deux-sèvres : wind, storms, floods
Sum : snow-ice
Tarn : wind, rain-flood, floods
Tarn-et-Garonne : wind, storms
Vendée : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, waves-submersion
Vienna : wind, storms, floods
Haute-vienne : wind, rain-flood, thunderstorms, floods
Vosges : snow-ice, floods
Yonne : floods
Terr. of Belfort : snow-ice
Essonne : rain-flood
Hauts-de-Seine : rain-flood, floods
Seine-saint-denis : rain-flood, floods
Val-de-marne : rain-flood, floods
Val-d’oise : rain-flood, floods

Pluies, vent, neige, vagues, poursuite des crues sur une large moitié ouest, risque d’avalanches élevé…
La météo s’annonce encore très agitée, particulièrement mercredi et jeudi avec le passage de la nouvelle tempête nommée Pedro. ⬇️
👉 Point météo : https://t.co/TM0ivLqhK6 pic.twitter.com/O46EfsAiXR
— Météo-France (@meteofrance) February 17, 2026

It is in fact in the afternoon that things will get tough, warns the weather agency. A rainy front enters the Atlantic coast giving sustained rain and wind with peaks between 60 and 80 km/h, or even occasionally up to 90 km/h. ”

Heavy precipitation

The cumulative precipitation over the day should be “remarkable” from Brittany to the Paris basin, often with 15 to 30 mm, or even 40 to 50 mm locally on the Breton tip.

In the evening, Wednesday, and during the night, the rainy front sweeps across the western 2/3 of the country, causing good accumulations of precipitation over Limousin and the north of Midi-Pyrénées. As the front passes, gusts can reach 70 to 80 km/h, or even 90 km/h.
Météo-France

On Thursday, storm Pedro will truly enter the territory. These bad weather events take place in a context of soils already overloaded by accumulations of rain.

The Minister of Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, stressed that France was experiencing “a record humidity in the soil, never recorded since 1959”, making a link with climate change. She announced that the state would provide support to affected communities. In Gironde, homes near the Garonne are still deprived of drinking water and electricity.