Weather security

Storm wreaks havoc in northern France

A MAJOR winter storm, which battered the northern half of France overnight, has left about 237,000 homes without power. 

This morning, 11 departments - Aisne, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Mayenne, Nord, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Sarthe, Seine-Maritime and Somme - remained on orange alert for snow and ice this morning. 

But national forecaster Météo-France has lifted a red weather alert - its highest warning level - that it had issued overnight for storm-force winds in the northwestern departments the Aisne, Ardennes, Oise, Seine-Maritime and Somme.