Record-breaking rain hits France again, Paris breaks rainfall record set in 1960

France is again on our radar with record-breaking June rainfall that triggered floods and caused damage and injuries on June 11 and 12, 2018.

Fire and rescue service of Seine-et-Marne department in northern France responded to 816 calls for assistance on Monday and Tuesday, June 11 and 12, 2018, after torrential rains caused rivers to rapidly rise, flooding homes and disrupting traffic.

Authorities said they dispatched 250 firefighters with more than 70 vehicles to worst affected areas such as Chessy, Claye-Souilly, Pomponne, Chambry, Crécy la Chapelle, Rebais, La-Ferte Gaucher and Bellot. Some 100 homes were flooded in Chambry.

Between Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse and Courcelle-sur-Yvette, southwest of capital Paris, heavy rain caused an embankment to collapse, causing a suburban train to overturn and injuring 7 people.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated across the country, most of them in the South-West where entire towns were underwater.

According to figures provided by Meteo France, Paris recorded 78 mm (3.07 inches) of rain in 24 hours to June 12. The amount it received is a record for a June day, breaking the previous record of 58 mm (2.28 inches) measured in 1960.

Orly recorded 75 mm (2.95 inches) in 24 hours, which is its highest daily record ever. Torcy recorded 108 mm (4.25 inches) during the same period. This is also its highest ever amount measured in one day.

Nantes in Brittany broke its daily June record with 71 mm (2.79 inches). Its previous record was 41 mm (1.61 inches) set on June 5, 2018.

Rivers are at Orange level (3 of 4) in over 20 locations across the country, FloodList reports, but heavy rain France has been experiencing for several weeks is now gradually coming to an end.

"The last 24 hours have, however, been the culmination of a very rainy situation in the northern regions of the Loire between the Pays de la Loire, the Paris region and Champagne-Ardenne. A slow improvement is taking shape with less stormy weather by the end of the week," Meteo France meteorologists said.

Featured image courtesy Infos Françaises