French electricity provider Electricite de France (EDF) said most of the homes concerned were in the northern regions of Normandy and Picardy as well as eastern France, and said it would give a new bulletin on Sunday.

Gusts of up to 155 kilometres (96 miles) per hour blew through the region on Friday, prompting the national weather service Meteo France to issue its second-highest alert.

Most of those killed on Friday were victims of falling trees.

Meteo France said its state of alert had been issued in 10 departments on Friday.

In Paris, parks, cemeteries, gardens and the Eiffel Tower were closed on Friday as the famed symbol was buffeted by massive gusts.

The Paris airports of Charles de Gaulle and Orly were also hit, prompting 25 cancellations and delays on dozens of other flights. Train service, badly affected ahead of the weekend through much of northern France, was back to normal on Saturday.

Meanwhile, much of northern France was bracing for the next wave of bad weather -- as temperatures were set to plummet to between -5 and -10 degrees Celsius (23-16 Fahrenheit) late on Sunday.