Loic Venance, AFP | Batz-sur-Mer, in western France, on December 31, 2017, a day before storm Carmen hit the area.

French power grid company Enedis on Monday said some 65,000 homes were without power in France's western regions of Brittany, Pays-de-la-Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine due to winter storm Carmen.

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The storm hit France's Atlantic coast Monday as national weather service Meteo-France warned of gusts of winds up of to 150 kilometres per hour.

No major damage had been reported by the afternoon.

Seaside cities have cancelled their traditional New Year swimming in the cold sea.

The storm is expected to move across the country later Monday and towards Germany overnight.

Major power cuts or blackouts are rare in France, which produces three quarters of its power with nuclear energy.

In July 2015, some 830,000 households temporarily lost power in western France after exceptionally warm weather damaged transformers.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)

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