Image source, Reuters

The protests in France come ahead of the country's presidential election, scheduled on 18 April and 2 May 2027.

Presidential candidates from the anti-immigration nationalist right (Marine Le Pen) and also the anti-capitalist left (Jean-Luc Mélenchon) are vying to make headlines.

Le Pen launched a video address via social media last Sunday blaming Mélenchon for his associates who "look to throw the country into chaos", while also urging French voters to "choose a different path" from the current centrist Macron government.

Last week, France's centrist Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu suggested that student anger was being manipulated as politics heats up ahead of next year's vote - later speaking of "insurrections" planned by "small far-left and ultra-left groups".

Mélenchon, currently running in second place in most polls ahead of centrist candidates, accused Lecornu of being "responsible for the chaos" either due to "incompetence or a worst-case strategy".

Marine Le Pen is expected to officially launch her 2027 presidential campaign at her party's rally in Orléans on Sunday.

Police in Paris say that 110,000 people marched in the capital today as part of nationwide protests.

The situation across the city was mostly "calm", they add.

A major police operation in under way in Milan, reports our team from Italy - where demonstrations were also planned.

Police and military officers are stopping and searching groups of teenagers, to prevent anyone gathering for a protest.

Image source, Getty Images

French hard-right leader Marine Le Pen thanks law enforcement officers who are out on the streets across France today.

In a post on X, she writes: "A tribute to our law enforcement forces, to our gendarmes, and to all those mobilised today everywhere in France to ensure the safety of the French people."

She is in Orléans, the location of her National Rally party's two-day conference.

Around 13,000 people have taken to the streets there to protest the party.

An image from Marseille shows masked protesters preparing a barricade.

Elsewhere in the south of France, protesters in Bordeaux have also been building barricades.

Image source, Reuters

Local authorities in Orléans say 13,000 people "peacefully" marched against the National Rally as of 14:00 local time (13:00 BST).

They were demonstrating against the hard-right party, which is holding a two-day conference in the city.

Jordan Bardella was re-elected as president during the event and Marine Le Pen is set to launch her presidential campaign.

Image source, Reuters

Tear gas is often used at major protests in Francepublished at 16:17 BST 24 October

16:17 BST 24 October

Nick Beake
Europe correspondent, in Paris

Image source, Reuters

This time last week, several major French cities were descending into chaos. Looting had begun and tear gas filled many streets. In Marseille, the police were overwhelmed, eventually running out of gas canisters, as one police union rep later told us.

Today, no such repeat. At least so far.

Two factors are in the police’s favour at the moment.

First - many marches have been banned or their routes changed or curtailed.

Second - the weather, at least in the capital. Rain is becoming heavier here and open umbrellas rather than outright mayhem is the current view.

We see there is now some tear gas being used in Marseille, Lyon and Nantes as well.

The truth is, over the past decade, it would have been highly unusual for it not to be deployed at some point during a major gathering of protesters.

Even within crowds of overwhelmingly peaceful groups, police frequently use it to disperse crowds at the end of official rallies, particularly if they’ve identified a hardcore and potentially violent element.

But it’s not yet nightfall and things can change quickly.

Protesters have been pictured running away and trying to cover their mouths after tear gas was fired in Lyon.

Here are some of the latest images from the city in the east of France.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Préfète de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine et de la Gironde/X

Police in Bordeaux, southern France, say some protesters are throwing projectiles, attacking law enforcement and setting up barricades on Place de la Bourse.

They warn people should avoid the area.

Video footage, shared by the prefecture, shows people in dark clothing and face coverings taking boards off a building and using them to form a barricade along a street.

Image source, Reuters

Tear gas has been fired in cities across France as protests continue.

Tear gas grenades were used to disperse the crowd in Lyon, while footage of the protests also shows tear gas being used on crowds in Marseille.

"There were around 150 of us, mostly secondary school and university students," says one protester in Lyon.

"Then the tear gas came almost immediately. You could barely see anything in the street."

French newspaper Le Parisien says police have been using water cannon and there are reports of tear gas being fired in Nice.

Police also fired tear gas at several hundred demonstrators in Clermont-Ferrand, according to French broadcaster France3.

Earlier on Saturday, police said they used tear gas and a water cannon as protesters attempted to breach a restricted area in Nantes.

We're now receiving agency pictures showing the head of the Paris protest arriving at Porte de Vincennes, the end point of the authorised demonstration.

They are escorted by CRS riot police officers.

Image source, Reuters

A protester in central Paris tells the BBC demonstrations will continue until French President Emmanuel Macron listens to protesters.

Zelie, 26, says people have taken to the street because they are "really frustrated" and have been "suffering a lot" since Macron came to office.

"They keep us quiet," she says. "They take our money, they tax us a lot and we can't say anything.

"Today we are in the streets because it's been too long, it's been too much."

Zelie highlights that teachers have been suffering from burnout and describes how her school was one of the worst in France.

She says students "could feel the wind during winter time" in her school building and in summer indoor temperatures reached 35C, making it tough to study.

"[We want] Macron to understand what we need and start taking actions," she continues.

Zelie says she is not sure if she will have a bright future in France and explains she was unemployed for six months while searching for a marketing job.

Nick Beake
Europe correspondent, in Paris

We’ve just met two 18-year-olds who have joined the rally in Paris.

The teenagers - who didn’t want to give their names - say their generation is in despair and feel abandoned by the Macron government.

One of them claims the police have been totally disproportionate in their treatment of the student protest.

I ask why he's covering his face. He replies it's because it’s cold and because there may be tear gas. He says the looting of last weekend was unacceptable.

"I think looting is really not good. But it’s because of poverty and the violence of the police."

I ask when this cycle of protest will end.

He replies: "I hope only when we have a response to our demands. We really want a change in France."

Image source, Reuters

Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has been speaking at the front of the permitted protest in Paris.

We saw him earlier raising his fist in a crowd of demonstrators.

He says: "There is a magnificent mass response, showing collective discipline and self-control. I think he [Emmanuel Macron] will realise that this is going to happen every week - it's time for him to give in.

"Don’t add fuel to the fire, stop trying to pit people against each other."

Away from the protests in France, hundreds of demonstrators are expected to march this afternoon in several Italian cities as well.

Hundreds of soldiers have been sent to Milan as fresh demonstrations are expected on Saturday.

Photos from the scene taken by the BBC in Milan show military personnel patrolling the city centre and a boarded up Nike store.

The Italian government has cracked down on protests following the disorder which broke out last weekend.

Mark Lowen
Reporting from Paris

The huge crowds on the southern ringroad of Paris are hoping for a peaceful march today, but Julian, one of the students I've been speaking to, tells me he fears the violence of the authorities, rather than that of other protesters.

"We're becoming a police state," he says.

Anaïs, who recently graduated, says looting and attacks are not the answer but adds "the government is using violence to repress us - they bear responsibility for what has happened here".

It is very hard to see how this is resolved.

Even if today passes largely peacefully - although there have already been some tear gas and scuffles elsewhere in the country - the authorities get breathing space for a matter of days at the most, with more protests planned and rolling strikes called by the unions from next month.

The government has no money to throw at the problem, France is divided and volatile, and a deeply unpopular president is in the twilight of his stay at the Élysée Palace.

It feels like we’ll be here a lot over the next six months.

The local authority in Gironde, south-western France, says that 13 people have been found carrying "dangerous objects and materials" during protests in the area.

The update shared on X includes an image showing a glove, a facemask, a pair of goggles, and several other small items.

The prefecture says that its law enforcement officers have been carrying out checks on protesters since this morning.

Image source, Préfète de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine et de la Gironde

The yellow vest protest movement has shared footage of protests across Strasbourg and Bordeaux.

Thousands of protesters could be seen taking part in a mass rally in the heart of Bordeaux in the south-west of France.

The protest movement also announces that a large procession has set off in Strasbourg in the north-east of the country.

The Yellow Vests, who have been organising the "Act II" protests, previously said more than 700 gatherings were planned across France on Saturday.

Image source, Gilet Jaune

Image source, Gilet Jaune

Pierre-Antoine Denis
Reporting from Paris

As we walk alongside the protest, we pulled back as an orchestra fired up in the middle of the march.

It’s now walking along, and greets protesters to dance and sing.

We heard multiple renditions of songs such as Bella Ciao, a popular tune among protesters across Europe.

So far it’s all in good spirits among the official procession.

Students in the streets of Paris have been speaking with the BBC about the protests.

Julian-Gabriel Dare says the protest movement has become much bigger than the original demands about education.

"We’re not only protesting for our demands towards the state, we’re now protesting for our right to protest," he says.

"It’s about our freedom to go out and to express ourselves in our country," Dare adds.

"It’s a huge movement", former student union leader Manes Nadel tells the BBC. "The only solution is to let it win."

Another protester, Anaïs, suggests that government inaction is to blame for the violence seen in some protests.

"When the government doesn’t listen to the peaceful protester then people need to use other solutions," she says.