Storm Elsa that battered much of central France overnight on Thursday and Friday morning left tens of thousands without power in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Much of the area was placed on Orange alert on Thursday evening and by Friday the storm was whipping up winds of up to 150km/h. Winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour also forced ski resorts in France's southern Pyrenees to temporarily shut down their slopes. "We have to close when the winds are too strong to ensure the safety of skiers," said Anais Aguillon of the ski holiday website N'Py which has eight ski resorts in the Pyrenees. National weather service Meteo France has placed four departments in the Pyrenees on the orange alert - the second highest weather warnings - for strong winds.

Source: The Local December 20, 2019 08:50 UTC