Météo-France placed this Thursday in orange flood alert six departments of the north and west, "in a context of high tides", according to a bulletin issued at 06:00.
The alert begins Thursday at 12:00 p.m. and ends Friday at 6:00 a.m. It concerns Vendée, Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Pas-de-Calais, Seine-Maritime and Eure. Météo-France describes an "episode of strong waves requiring special attention in the English Channel, particularly in the west of Pas-de-Calais".
On Thursday morning, the weather was characterized by a "fairly strong southwest wind over Brittany and across the Channel", according to the forecaster. “The sea is strong. A swell from the northwest spreads to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay ”.
"Severe and rapid coastal flooding" to be feared
According to Météo-France, “marine submersions can cause severe and rapid flooding of the coastline, ports and the mouths of rivers and streams. As for waves, they can damage coastal infrastructure by mechanical effect and cause water flooding by projection. These two phenomena, when they are simultaneous, are particularly destructive ”.
The forecaster warns that in periods of "high tides (coefficient 115 Thursday morning, 111 Thursday evening), the combination of high sea levels and strong waves may cause, during the high seas, overflowing submersions on the parts coastline ". The "high flows of rivers" can also "cause in places elevations of already particularly high sea levels".
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