Cannes Mayor David Lisnard has issued an ‘urgent’ message about heavy rainfall on Saturday morning, 14 March 2026. A yellow alert for storms and possible flooding along the Côte d’Azur was posted beforehand by the weather bureau for Saturday morning.
At around 08:30, the mayor posted on social media: “Urgent. Cannes News: Heavy rainfall is currently underway. We expect further potentially very intense downpours within the next two hours.” He posted a radar video showing the rain clouds approaching. (See main image.)
The Cannes municipal crisis management team has been activated.
“I urge everyone to exercise caution and to deploy their personal protective equipment (including flood barriers), particularly in the République area,” said the mayor.
The team has also been mobilized in parts of La Bocca, and the parks have been closed.
Meanwhile heavy rainfall has been reported along the Riviera coast with videos showing flooding in Saint-Laurent du Var:
The Dolines road in Sophia Antipolis has been closed to traffic, after a large tree fell across the lanes. on the #Dolines road. Emergency services, the Biot municipal police and the PACA Department services are currently working to secure the area and clear the road.
The Côte d’Azur weather service reported that by 09:30 it had recorded up to 44 mm of rainfall in Antibes and Golfe Juan, 36mm in Mandelieula Napoule, 32mm in Valbonne and Sophia, 31mm in #Nice, and just 14mm in Menton. The meteo said the maximum wind gusts had been 86km/hour in Porquerolles and 40km/hour in Cannes.
The bureau said that the weather system is moving from west to east and should cross over the Italian border at around midday.
Heavy snow is falling in Auron and the French Riviera mountains.
In 2015, Cannes experienced severe thunderstorms which resulted in more than 17 cm of rain in just two hours, the equivalent of what usually falls in two months in the region. It led to 16 fatalities on the Riviera.
