Storm triggers extreme weather alert in France

RENNES, Nov 01 (AFP): France went on high alert Wednesday as a storm dubbed Ciaran threatened to bring gale-force winds and extreme rainfall to the north and west, as well as Britain and Ireland.

Three French departments -- Finistere, Cotes-d'Armor and Manche -- will be placed on red storm alert, the highest level, starting at midnight (2300 GMT), national weather agency Meteo-France said. Two of them are will also be placed on maximum flood alert, it added.

A total of 17 departments along the French coast, from the Gironde region to the northern Hauts de France, will be on the lower category orange alert.

The storm will unleash winds of up to 170 kilometres per hour (106 miles per hour) notably on the coastlines of Britanny and Normandy in the northwest, Meteo-France forecaster Francois Gourand warned on Tuesday.