Storm cuts power to 40,000 households in western France

People look out to sea in Batz-sur-Mer, western France, a day prior to storm Carmen making landfall along France’s western coastline, on Dec.31, 2017. (AFP)

PARIS: Winter storm Carmen has cut power to about 40,000 households in the Brittany region of western France, power grid company Enedis said in a statement on Monday.
Enedis, which has mobilized 1,500 staff to restore power, said the storm is now moving to other regions.
Weather service Meteo France has placed 40 departments in western France on orange alert as winds with speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour battered the country’s Atlantic coast.
Major power cuts or blackouts are rare in France, which produces three quarters of its power with nuclear energy.
In July 2015, some 830,000 households temporarily lost power in western France after exceptionally warm weather damaged transformers.