This stormy episode affecting the south-east of the country began on Wednesday evening, mainly off the coast of Toulon. Wind gusts reached 140 km/h on the island of Levant, Var firefighters said.

On Thursday morning, firefighters were called out for three Var homes which had been damaged by lightning, a tree which had fallen on a house and a few forest fires, which were quickly contained.

There were no casualties or flooding, the fire service said.

Overnight on Wednesday, the SNCF had advised that there would be no trains between Marseille and Nice between 5am and midday as a precautionary measure. The railway company asked passengers to postpone travelling and to avoid the station. 

The orange alerts have been issued because there is a risk of hail and strong gusts of wind with heavy rain and possible flooding, the forecaster said.

“After a temporary lull on Thursday morning, new storm surges are expected which should impact Var, Alpes-Maritimes and Haute Corse,” Météo France said, adding that in the worst cases, gusts of 80 to 110 km/h or a little more were possible.

The orange heatwave alert has been lifted in these three departments – they are now on a yellow (be aware) alert.

Météo-France uses a four-level level weather warning system, from green which means that there are no immediate weather concerns, to the highest alert level red, which indicates a possible danger to life.

Orange indicates that people should be “very vigilant”. Meanwhile, the moderate yellow level means people should “be attentive” to the impact of heat when playing sports or engaging in other physical activity, according to Météo France.