South-eastern France hit by violent storms and floods once more

© France TV info

South eastern France takes a hit from extreme weather

Gale force winds and heavy rain lashed south eastern France on Tuesday leaving weather alerts in place for 15 departments.

On Monday night the severe weather caused havoc in the Ardeche department and left over 6,000 homes without power. Firefighters were called out nearly 100 times to deal with incidents.

"We have an enormous amount of damage, with walls collapsing onto roads," said deputy mayor of an Ardeche village Michel Aymard, who said it was the third time in two months the region had been hit by devastating floods.

"We've only just received the financial aid from the government for damage caused by flooding in 2013," said Aymard.

No injuries have been reported.

Overnight on Monday winds reached up to 160km/h in parts of the Rhône Valley.

The country's meteorological service Météo France said heavy rains will continue in the region until Wednesday morning. As much as 450mm of rain fall could fall until the storms pass.