Twelve départments of France remain on orange weather alerts, notably in the north of the country, but Storm Ciaran – which prompted national forecaster Méteo France to issue red weather warnings in Brittany and set a number of weather records – is moving north, away from the country.

But it’s not over yet, forecasters said that another Atlantic depression is barrelling its way towards France and will make landfall on Saturday.

Meanwhile travel is likely to remain disrupted on Friday, with transport minister Clément Beaune warning that local TER train services will be limited in Brittany, Normandy and Hauts-de-France as the clean-up operation continues. 

TGV services will run as normal on Friday, SNCF announced, apart from the routes between Saint-Brieuc and Brest, Lorient and Quimper, Nantes and les Sables d’Olonne and Arras and Lille.

In the worst affected areas – mostly in Brittany – many roads remain closed as local emergency services deal with a very high number of fallen trees.

Red weather alerts were lifted at 10am on Thursday, after the storm left 1.2 million homes without electricity in France, 780,000 of them in Brittany, energy provider Enedis said on Thursday morning.

READ ALSO Severe travel disruption, power cuts and 190km/h winds as Storm Ciaran hits France

Twelve orange weather alerts remain in place – Manche, Seine-Maritime, Oise, Somme, Pas-de-Calais and Nord departments remained on heightened vigilance because of strong winds, which are now ranging between 100km/h and 120km/h.

Meanwhile, Corse-du-Sud is on alert for flooding, storms and dangerous sea conditions; Haute Corse for flooding; and Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, Alpes-Maritimes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes and Calvados were all on alert for dangerous sea conditions, while heavy overnight rain in the south-west will increase flood risks in Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques into Friday.

A further 34 départements, along the north coast, west coast and in Alpine regions, are on yellow weather alerts – mostly for high winds, flood risk and heavy rain.

A cold front crossing Corsica overnight is expected to bring heavy rains and storms, as well as strong winds, especially towards the west of the island.

Six départements will remain on orange alert into Friday, according to Meteo France’s Thursday afternoon bulletin. Pas-de-Calais, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques are all on alert for flash flooding caused by intense rain, while stormy showers are forecast to continue on the western side of Corsica, and are set to strengthen in the late afternoon and evening. 

But forecasters have warned that France faces a stormy weekend as another Atlantic depression hurtles towards the country, bringing strong winds and sustained rain, followed by stormy showers on Saturday. Mediterranean areas may be spared the worst of the weekend weather, but people in the region should expect strong mistral and tramontane winds.

Minimum temperatures will range from 7C to 11C in the morning and maximums will range from 12C to 15C.

Unstable weather conditions are expected to continue into Sunday, with heavy, occasionally sleety showers, while winds will be especially strong near the Mediterranean. Heavy snow is forecast in mountainous areas from around 1,200m.

It will be relatively cool with temperatures in the morning between 3C and 8C and maximums between 11C and 15C from north to south.