France braces for Storm Ciaran expected to land in evening

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – France is gearing up for Storm Ciaran which is expected to hit the country on Wednesday evening.

Storm Ciaran is expected to arrive in the UK, Ireland, France, and the Iberian peninsula, with winds up to 170 kilometers per hour (105.6 miles per hour).

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Tuesday called on the nation to not leave their homes on Wednesday into Thursday night, and announced that 3,200 firefighters and four helicopters would be ready to respond to the storm-related incidents.

The country's weather authority, Meteo France, put western departments on orange alert for Wednesday, and three of them were put on red alert for Thursday, including Finistere, Cotes d'Armor, and Manche, located on the Atlantic coast.

France's railway company SNCF also canceled some trains starting from Wednesday evening in the regions of Bretagne, Pays de la Loire, Normandie, Centre Val de Loire, and Hauts-de-France in the northern and western parts of the country, daily Le Figaro reported on Tuesday.