BORDEAUX (AFP) - Violent storms lashed southwestern France on Wednesday, killing two people and causing widespread powercuts, flooding and fires in many areas, firefighters said. Police said they were sill trying to identify a man of around thirty years old who was struck by lightening on the roadside near the district of Pauillac, in the department of Gironde. The second victim was a young woman, who was killed when a tree fell onto her car.

Firefighters said three others were slightly injured in a similar, but separate incident. Elsewhere in the department firefighters battled to remove fallen trees and roof tiles from roads, while divers rescued three children who were stuck on an island which formed after heavy rain caused a river's waters to rise suddenly. Firefighters in the departments of Dordogne, Correze and Creuse responded to hundreds of requests for assistance after storms resulted in widespread flooding and roof dammage and caused trees to uproot and fall onto roads and power lines.

Around 19,000 households throughout Dordogne had lost power, according to the state electricity company EDF. Storms triggered two fires in the the department of Gironde, although firefighters said they had brought them under control.