France - the calm before the storm - weather warning

Weather is is once again making the headlines here in France, with this country's national meteorological service, Météo-France, forecasting storms over a huge part of the country on Monday evening.

It has predicted high winds with gusts of up to 140 km/h to hit the west and southwest of the country at around six o'clock local time moving across country throughout the night and into Tuesday.

In total, Météo-France has put 35 (of the 96 in mainland France) départements (or administrative districts) on orange alert, although Meteo Consult, a commercial meteorological research bureau has put the figure as high as 44.

Whatever the exact number, "vigilance has been advised" and a huge swathe of the country is expected to be affected with winds predicted to be as strong 120 -140 km/h in western coastal areas.

Further inland, as the storms move from west to east, they should drop to 100-120 km/h before moving in to neighboring Belgium on Tuesday.

In its wake of course, the storm (tempête Quentin as it's being called) is expected to create plenty of damage, fallen trees, localized traffic problems and rail and air transport delays throughout the day on Tuesday.

Along with the wind, there'll also be rain - as if many parts of France haven't had more than their fair share already, but apart from a few isolated regions, the risk of flooding or rivers breaking their banks isn't thought to be a major threat.

One ray of sunshine (sorry - completely unintentional, but you have to look for the positive in all of this too) is that according to Météo-France, the storms will not be as intense as those that devastated parts of southwestern France on January 24.

But that'll probably be of little comfort to those just recovering from one weather front, now being warned of another one.

January's storm (tempête Klaus) caused an estimated €1.2 billion worth of damages, brought down power lines to 1.7 million households and killed 11 people.