Lozère, Gard and Hérault in orange vigilance Saturday for rain and flooding

Europe 1 with AFP 08:43, September 16, 2023

The departments of Lozère, Gard and Hérault are placed on orange alert Saturday for rain and flooding by Météo France due to stormy rains that began overnight, marking the first Mediterranean episode of the season. "The rainfall accumulations will be very important. we expect about 200 mm on the Cevennes. In the plain, it is not excluded to occasionally reach 100 to 140 mm", details the meteorological institute in its latest bulletin, stressing that "this represents the equivalent of about a month of precipitation on average for these departments".

39 departments in yellow vigilance

39 departments - located on the Atlantic coast, the north-eastern quarter as well as a large part of the Mediterranean arc and Corsica - have also been placed on yellow alert for thunderstorms or rain and flooding by Météo-France.

"These episodes (of rain, editor's note) are the consequences of the upwelling of warm and humid air from the Mediterranean that occur critically from mid-September to mid-December, period during which the sea is warmer which favors evaporation," said Friday Christophe Mirmand, prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (Paca) region, at a press conference. He stressed that "the resulting floods can be very sudden and very dangerous".

In the afternoon, these rains will shift to the east while losing intensity, before evacuating the country in the evening. A strong easterly wind will accompany this Mediterranean episode, blowing all day with gusts reaching 70 to 90 km / h from the Camargue to the Var coast, according to Météo France.

Also stormy weather over Brittany

On Brittany, Normandy and the Pays de la Loire, the weather will also be stormy all day, but "in a more isolated and less sustained way than in the Mediterranean". Between these disturbed areas, the weather will be calm and warm for the season, with "a cloudy but nevertheless bright sky".

In the early morning, we expect between 12 to 16 ° C on the northern half, and 15 to 19 ° C on the southern half, with locally 20 to 21 ° C on the island of beauty. At the best of the afternoon, expect 23 to 28 ° C in general, and up to 28 to 30 ° C from Pays de la Loire to the Center and to the Southwest.