France, Spain hit by severe weather as floods, landslide kill 2

ISTANBUL

Severe weather continues to batter parts of western Europe on Thursday, with French authorities maintaining flood alerts in several regions and Spain issuing fresh orange and yellow warnings for heavy rain and storms.

French authorities maintained an orange alert for heavy rain and flooding in five northeastern departments after torrential downpours swept the region, the French news broadcaster BFMTV reported.

The weather alert, which remains in effect until 4 pm local time (1800GMT), covers the Vosges, Haut-Rhin, Territoire-de-Belfort, Haute-Saone and Doubs departments, according to Meteo-France.

Although the rains are no longer accompanied by thunderstorms, they are expected to continue until midday before moving eastward toward Switzerland by Thursday evening.

Neighboring departments such as Cote-d’Or and Haute-Marne may also experience locally heavy rainfall.

On Wednesday, northeastern France and the Centre-Val-de-Loire region recorded severe precipitation, with between 40 and 60 millimeters falling in most areas. The Vosges and Haut-Rhin saw up to 80 millimeters, while Begnecourt in Vosges reported 89 millimeters. In Haute-Marne, 72 millimeters of rainfall was measured in Auberive.

Heavy rains also forced the partial closure of the A11 motorway linking Paris and Nantes on Wednesday evening, after a section near Chartres was flooded.

By Thursday afternoon, accumulations could reach 70 to 90 millimeters in some areas.

Meanwhile, in Haute-Savoie, a landslide struck the RN 205 road on Wednesday evening in the Chamonix-Passy direction, killing two people and injuring two others.

Authorities said the victims, a couple born in 2002, were seated in the back of a vehicle. The 54-year-old driver was seriously injured and taken to Annecy hospital, while his wife, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered minor injuries and was transported to Sallanches hospital.

- Spain

In Spain, the Cantabrian coast of Navarre and Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country were placed on orange alert Thursday morning for rainfall reaching 30 liters per square meter in one hour, Spanish news agency EFE reported.

The Cantabrian coast was also under yellow alert due to storms bringing instability across the northern third of the peninsula, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) said.

Heavy downpours in Santander early Thursday flooded parts of the city, forcing tunnel closures and causing major traffic jams at key entrances and in the city center.

In the Balearic Islands, orange alerts were issued overnight for strong storms with rainfall of up to 50 liters per square meter per hour, especially along coastal areas.

Aemet added that most remaining alerts across Spain would be lifted by midday, with Navarre the last to remain under warning until 3 pm. However, forecasters warned that heavy cloud cover in the northern and eastern parts of the peninsula could still trigger additional showers.

Along the Cantabrian coast, rainfall totals are expected to reach 40 liters per square meter in 12 hours, with the heaviest accumulations likely in the eastern half.