Glance around France: 75 drought-hit French departments to declare 'agricultural disaster'

Agricultural disaster across France

Some 75 departments across France are to file for "agricultural disaster" status with the country's farming ministry due to the devastating drought that has hit parts of France since June.

According to the farming union FNSEA the damage caused by the repeated dry weather has caused between €250 million and €300 million in losses.

Farmers have talked of individual losses of between 30 and 60 percent.

If the government recognises a state of agricultural disaster in a department then farmers must apply for compensation on an individual basis. Many, however, are worried that the criteria for any payout is so strict that it may mean they don't qualify for compensation.

Diesel cars banned in Paris suburbs

Authorities in Paris and the surrounding suburbs voted on Monday to ban diesel cars registered before 2001 from the capital and surrounding region from next summer.

The ban will apply to all roads within the A86 outer ring road and will come into force in July 2019. Some 79 of 131 communes that make up the so-called "Grand Paris" (Greater Paris) area will be affected by the ban.

It is believed some 700,000 diesel cars are affected, meaning their owners will have to change vehicle if they want to be able to carry on driving in these areas.

Tornadoes in the west

Residents in some villages in western France were left in shock after mini-tornadoes ripped up trees and left scenes of devastation on Saturday night.

The freakish weather phenomenon hit parts of Loire-Atlantique and the Vendee.

Trees were ripped up and roofs were torn off as these pictures below show.

Brittany town to turn off street lights

The Brittany town of Quimper has decided to turn off a third of its street lights during the night in order to cut down on the electricity bill.

The town's bill stands at around €80,000 but by turning off around 3,000 street lights, the town's authority hopes to cut the bill by around 15 percent.

The town centre will not be included in the experiment that will see lights go off between 1am and 6am.