Storm Adam floods kill four in southern France as Austen closes in

Four people have died and one person is missing after violent storms linked to Storm Adam flooded south-eastern France on Monday and Tuesday, authorities said on Wednesday. The cut-off low dubbed Adam first battered eastern Spain before pushing a Mediterranean deluge into France overnight Monday to Tuesday (The Sun, https://www.the-sun.com/news/17177486/storm-adam-hits-france-floods/; Orbis Weather, https://www.orbisweather.com/weekly-earths-extreme-weather-report-wednesday-october-21-2026/).

In the Bouches-du-Rhône, a 75-year-old man was swept away by floodwater at Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts and his body recovered at Istres, while two women aged 86 and 26 were found drowned in a flooded cellar in Lançon-Provence, the prefecture and fire service said. One person was injured, 250 were housed in reception centres at Saint-Martin-de-Crau, and dozens more sheltered in Mouriès (Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/three-people-have-died-storms-flooding-southern-france-2026-10-22/; Le Temps, https://www.letemps.ch/monde/france/intemperies-dans-le-sud-est-de-la-france-quatre-morts-et-un-disparu-en-trois-jours).

In Haute-Corse, a 4x4 was swept away on Tuesday midday by the Fiumorbo river at Ghisonaccia; one man escaped through the window and the other was found dead. Rescuers were still searching on Wednesday for a person missing at Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Var (Le Temps).

Prefect Jacques Witkowski said water had risen “to unprecedented levels” in western Bouches-du-Rhône, with teams “mobilised at an exceptional level” as roads were cut and neighbourhoods flooded from Occitanie to Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Le Temps).

Attention now shifts west: Storm Austen, named by Britain’s Met Office, is forecast to cross north-west France overnight Thursday to Friday, with Météo-France putting five departments — Finistère, Côtes-d’Armor, Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine and Manche — on orange wind warnings, and gusts of up to 130–140 km/h expected on exposed coasts (HuffPost, https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/france/article/tempete-austen-en-france-quelles-regions-seront-touchees-par-les-vents-violents-vendredi_342905.html; Arab News, https://www.arabnews.fr/france/temp%C3%AAte-austen-la-bretagne-et-la-manche-en-vigilance-orange-vent-cette-nuit-3000445).