PARIS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - France's RTE power grid operator said that the risk of power cuts in France for the rest of the winter remained at a "medium" level and that it was "absolutely vital" to maintain a high vigilance during that period.

RTE also expects the available capacity of French nuclear plants to slightly exceed 45 GW by end-January before declining in February to reach 40-45 GW by end-February. (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet; Writing by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)