Floods in the South East: "This type of phenomenon is undoubtedly linked to climate change"

The South-East was hard hit by the brutal floods that occurred on Friday evening: in ten hours fell on the Alpes-Maritimes the equivalent of all the precipitation that usually falls on Nice in a year.

"This type of phenomenon is undoubtedly linked to climate change", assures the microphone of Europe 1 Alix Roumagnac, director of Predict Services, the risk subsidiary of weather France.

He believes that this heavy rainfall is expected to increase in the coming years. 

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- Floods in the South-East: a "disaster" and the fear of a heavy toll

The topography of the place reinforced the intensity of the storm

Storm Alex is the source of these floods.

Coming from the high northern latitudes, it hit the Breton coasts in the middle of the week.

The cold air descended sharply over the Mediterranean to meet warm, more humid air, forming rain clouds.

This fairly classic "Mediterranean episode" was nevertheless reinforced by the intensity of the storm and by the topography of the place: the reliefs of the Alpes-Maritimes department held back the rain.

The damage was all the more important as the affected areas were sloping.

A historically early storm

 "The Mediterranean is getting warmer and warmer and this temperature plays a fuel role in these phenomena", explains Alix Roumagnac, adding: "The hotter the Mediterranean, the more water vapor it brings when there are these phenomena. events. The precipitation intensities become more important. "

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Storm Alex is historically early.

No major storm had been recorded by Météo France before October 15 since 1980, they usually blow in the middle of winter.

Alex surged while the Mediterranean was still very hot which further amplified the precipitation.