UPDATED 23:00 November 2: Météo France on Wednesday warned of severe weather in Monaco and surrounding areas, starting at about 15:00 on Thursday. However, the wet weather is now expected to arrive as soon as midday.

The Alpes-Maritimes, the Var and the Bouches-du-Rhône have been placed on a yellow alert for storms and heavy rain with possible flooding.

Coastal areas are the most at risk. In a worst case scenario, 100 mm of rain could fall in localised areas, equivalent to the average rainfall for the whole of November.

The heavy rainfall may be accompanied by strong winds and hail, the forecasters say. The stormy conditions will move away in an easterly direction in the early hours.

The rail connection from Nice to Monaco was disrupted for almost 24 hours from Tuesday into early Wednesday morning when a landslip sent a large pine tree onto the track near Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

FILE PHOTO: Reuters