The western half of France is set to be battered by storms, potentially causes floods in the south west of the country.

At least 220,000 homes were without power in southwestern France after powerful winds swept across Atlantic coastal regions overnight.

Rescue services said four people had been injured when trees fell on their vehicles during the storms, and traffic was snarled due to trees and other debris on roads and highways.

Grid operator said at one point during the night some 400,000 homes were without power, after 14 departments were placed on high wind and flooding alerts.

According to weather service Meteo France, eight departments, mainly in the Occitanie region closer to the Mediterranean, as well as the island of Corsica were still on alert Friday, severely disrupting maritime travel.

Meteo France also warned the winds posed heightened avalanche risks in the Alps over the next 24 hours, in particular in the popular skiing departments of Isere and Savoie.

Earlier in October, a total of 46 departments were on orange alert – the second highest alert – for violent storms which hit southern France and moved to North.

Winds of 113 km/h have been recorded in Mayenne, with 93 km/h gusts in Landes and Maine et Loire, while Nantes received 16mm of rain in just one hour.

French weather forecaster Météo France has issued the warning for heavy rain, strong winds and electrical storms.