France’s prime minister said on Friday that firefighters and other rescuers have been involved in about 2,300 operations, some of them lifesaving, in what appears to be the biggest flooding for 40 years in central France.

Michel Barnier visited French authorities’ crisis centre in Paris and said there had not been such violent rain in many people’s memory.

More than 1,000 people were evacuated. Most of them were able to go back home on Friday.

An overturned car in a car park in France after heavy rain
An overturned car in the car park of a shopping centre in Givors, central France, after torrential rains and flooding submerged roads and railways (Laurent Cirpiani/AP)

Mr Barnier also praised an alert system, used for the first time, that sent text messages urging people in the concerned areas to delay or cancel their planned trips and stay in a safe place.

French weather agency Meteo France said as much as 700mm (27.5 inches) of rain fell in 48 hours in some local areas in the regions of Ardeche and Lozere.

National railway operator SNCF halted regional trains between the cities of Lyon and Saint-Etienne on Thursday saying the tracks were impassable. Local train services will remain disrupted for several days, it said.

A main highway between the two cities also was inundated and remained closed on Friday.

Meteo France lifted its red alert for bad weather on Friday morning but still warned of potential heavy rain and floods in southwestern France.