Residents in western France found themselves using boats to flee their inundated homes on Monday, as rivers and waterways overflowed following a series of storms that struck Normandy and Brittany.
The national meteorological agency issued urgent warnings concerning flooding and strong winds as Storm Herminia made its way through parts of Spain, France, and the UK.

Many areas of Normandy and Brittany were already saturated from the previous week’s Storm Éowyn, which resulted in two fatalities due to falling trees and left over one million people without power in both Ireland and Britain.
Storm Herminia worsened the situation, leading to numerous road closures across different regions of France.
Approximately 400 individuals were evacuated from their residences in and around Rennes, which lies at the center of the most severely affected area.
Local officials declared this flooding to be the worst the city has experienced in over four decades, noting that water levels were not anticipated to drop until at least Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a 73-year-old British sailor was reported missing along the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux over the weekend, according to local maritime authorities.
France’s meteorological service has extended additional warnings for floods and high winds set for Tuesday, affecting all coastal regions from Brittany down to the Spanish frontier.