Monaco and the French Riviera were battered by heavy storms on the weekend, with flash flooding, fallen trees and wall collapses resulting in over a hundred emergency callouts.
It was in the early hours of Sunday morning that the worst of the storm hit, with violent downpours wreaking havoc on the region. The storm, named Amélie by forecaster Météo France, was “the first autumnal storm, requiring particular vigilance”. They had issued an orange weather warning for around midnight.
Fort orage sur #nice06 et le cap ferrat cette nuit. #meteo06 #orages @NiceMeteo06 @MeteoCotedAzur @Nice_Matin pic.twitter.com/f5U87lKfg2
— Anthony (@tonioche06) November 3, 2019
#Nice06 nombreuses inondations de points bas signalées sous un violent #orage ⚠️? LIMITEZ vos déplacements #tempeteamelie #Meteo06 pic.twitter.com/g0csJIE8rW
— Nice Météo 06 (@NiceMeteo06) November 3, 2019
More than 32mm of rain fell within an hour in Valbonne, while Eze experienced 51mm over the same time frame. Nice, Saint-Laurent du Var and Cagnes sur Mer were also particularly affected, with many roads flooded.
#Meteo06 finalement il NAGE bien le nouveau Tramway de #Nice06 ? https://t.co/ExxMP49hGQ
— Nice Météo 06 (@NiceMeteo06) November 1, 2019
Several hundred lightning strikes were recorded: 92 in Nice, 60 in Mougins… in total 732 lightning strikes hit the region within the space of just three hours.
Images satellite #meteo prévues modèle ARPEGE #meteofrance jusqu’à mardi 7H.
Un succession de #tempêtes vont se succéder sur la Manche et la façade atlantique. Une dépression très creuse et rapide dimanche 0H 9H matin sera la plus violentehttps://t.co/OppyQMD2sp pic.twitter.com/GY4ebd3qGr— meteophile (@meteophile) November 1, 2019
The Alpes Maritimes fire brigade responded to 160 calls for help with everything from flooded cellars to landslides. Emergency crews rescued 14 people trapped in rapidly rising waters in the Nice neighbourhood of Bon Voyage. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall triggered a major landslide that covered the A8 motorway in l’Ariane at 3.48am, closing down the highway for several hours.
Due to a landslide, the RM 6098 (Beausoleil – Basse Corniche) was closed in two directions from 6pm Saturday. A detour via the Moyenne Corniche was put in place.
By Sunday afternoon, around 50 emergency teams were still surveying the area.
#A8 : circula°sur 2 voies, après Nice Centre (n°55) dir° Aix depuis 12h30. https://t.co/vcJcWo86z1. Retour en images de l’intervention des équipes de VINCI Autoroutes. Ecoutez @Radio1077 pic.twitter.com/IrTlepZD73
— VINCI Autoroutes (@VINCIAutoroutes) November 3, 2019
The orange alert remained in place early Sunday, although it had been lifted by late morning as thunderstorms eased. The Nice-Cannes marathon went ahead as planned but the 8am start was delayed by 30 minutes due to the weather.
The weekend deluge follows violent thunderstorms on Thursday in Nice which flooded numerous roads and closed down parts of the city to traffic.
In stark contrast, skies above Monaco and the French Riviera are forecast to be clear on Monday with highs of around 16 degrees Celsius.