22-04-2025
South-west France on weather alert after heavy flooding
Five départements in south-west France - Charente-Maritime, Charente, Dordogne, Corrèze, and Gironde - were on Tuesday placed on France's 'orange' weather warning, which is the
second highest alert
, for flooding.
According to the government flood alert service, Vigicrues, as of Tuesday, the primary rivers concerned by flooding were the Dronne, Isle and Vézère. You can keep up with the latest on the
Vigicrues website
.
Vigicrues noted that the areas affected along the Dronne river are those in the départements of Charente, Charente-Maritime, Dordogne, Gironde and Haute-Vienne.
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As for the Isle river, the Dordogne and Gironde départements are concerned, while the Vézere river could cause more flooding in the Corrèze et Dordogne départements.
Map of flood zones, as of Tuesday (April 22). Credit: Vigicrues.
Vigicrues noted that "flood peaks have been reached on all 'upstream' rivers under the orange alert, with water levels beginning to recede.
"However, the flood is spreading to the lower Isle, where water levels are rising. On the lower Dronne, levels will continue rising today in the Coutras area (in the Gironde département)." As such, it is possible for more flooding to continue throughout the day on Tuesday.
The flooding began over the weekend, after the region experienced rain and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday, leading flooding along the Seugne, Vézère, Dronne, Isle and Auvézere rivers.
Bordeaux saw record rainfall on Saturday, with 42.7mm of rain dumped on the city in just 24 hours on Saturday, regional newspaper
Sud Ouest
reported.
Meanwhile, eight campsites in the Dordogne département had to be evacuated, according to
Franceinfo
.
The Isle river, passing through Périgueux, reached a peak of 3.43m on Monday to Tuesday night, breaking the previous record of 3.37m from 1993.
Franceinfo
reported that since Sunday, there have been 138 evacuations in Dordogne.
This photograph shows restaurants closed following the overflowing of "la Vezere" river in Montignac-Lascaux, south-western France, on April 21, 2025. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP)
What about travel disruption?
Several roads were closed over the weekend, and many remained blocked off on Tuesday morning.
France Bleu
reported that 'départemental' roads in the Gironde département, like RD 255 and RD 136, in the upper Gironde area near Braud-et-Saint-Louis were closed.
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The RD 254toward Anglad and Eyrans was also closed, with a diversion set up. In the Libourne area, the RD247E3 and RD247 were cloesd, as was the RD120 in Savignac-sur-Isle.
These roads may reopen on Tuesday, you can pay attention to the website
for more updates.
In Dordogne, local authorities have warned residents located near the Isle river to stay indoors and limit travel, with 13 départemental roads still closed.
After several road accidents over the weekend, local authorities have continued to warn motorists to drive cautiously and pay attention to road signage, especially if it is indicating a section of the road is closed.
