Violent storms, high winds and floods hit southwest France this weekend, leaving three dead and several others injured. 

The third man in his forties was found dead in his submerged car two days after going missing.

Deputy district attorney Laurent Bidault blamed the death on the weather, adding that the body had been found on Sunday afternoon near the flooded Adour river, east of Dax. "The car was under water, invisible," Bidault said.

The other two victims were men in their seventies. They died in the Pyrenees-Atlantique in the Basque Autonomous Community on Friday when his vehicle struck a fallen tree.

In Espiens in the Lot-et-Garonne region, also on Friday, a 76-year-old man was swept away by rising waters when he went out to fetch his mail. His body was found 24 hours later more than a kilometer (half a mile) from his home.

Gale force winds left as many as 40,000 homes without power on Saturday afternoon and some 25,000 remained so from Normandy down to the southwest by early evening, according to electricity utility operator Enedis.

The hardest hit region was Peyrehorade, Landes, where emergency rescuers were deployed to evacuate residents and animals. 

It's reported that nearly 600 people were evacuated as a preventive measure in areas where the Gaves de Pau and Oloron rivers converge.

The region remains on alert for violent storms, high winds and floods. 

(With input from AFP)