Flooding hits northeastern France

Parts of northeastern France are experiencing the worst flooding since 2001 after heavy rain has caused several rivers in the region to reach dangerously high levels.

The departments of Yonne, Marne and Haute-Marne have been placed under an orange flood alert (the second highest) by Meteo France, the state meteorological department.

The Yonne, and its tributaries, the Armancon and Serein, were reportedly rising throughout Monday.

Over the weekend, the city of Dijon, Burgundy was badly affected. Some residents were evacuated from their homes to escape the rising waters of the Ouche river, after almost one month’s rain fell in just 24 hours.

Further to the southwest, ferry services in Lyon had to be suspended because water levels in the Soane river were so high that the boats could not pass under the bridges. The city saw 54mm fall on 2 May – almost 80 percent of the average for the entire month of May.

Earlier this month a nine-year-old boy was swept away by the raging river in Drome in the southeast of the country.

Although the heaviest of the rain appears to be over, the weather is expected to remain unsettled and accumulated rainfall totals over the next week could reach 25mm in parts of the region.