France issues orange weather alert in 60 departments

French meteorologists have announced the penultimate (orange) level of weather danger due to thunderstorms in 2/3 of the European part of France, the Meteo France meteorological service said in a statement.

Report informs citing TASS that the alert applies to 60 departments located in the southwest, the central part, and the north of the country. A further 23 departments have issued a yellow alert. The warning is in effect in most departments until Sunday morning. Only the residents of the Côte d'Azur and the southern foothills of the Alps will spend this day calmly.

On Saturday night, severe thunderstorms hit the departments of Côtes-d'Armor and Ile and Villein in northwestern France. Though the orange level of the weather alert was never declared, rescuers in these two departments made about 350 trips due to bad weather, according to the Telegram Internet portal.

According to Météo France, heavy rain and thunderstorms were also observed by Saturday morning in the Île-de-France metropolitan region and the western Pays-de-la-Loire. A high risk of hail is reported in the southwest and the central massif (center and south) of the country.