Storms will hit a large part of the country, in the afternoon and early evening, Wednesday, August 28. They will not be violent but are the result of the hot weather of recent days. Météo France has placed about fifty departments in yellow vigilance.
After the heat of these last days, place to the storms. It's a classic. Météo France has placed about fifty departments, in a large part of the country, in yellow vigilance, this Wednesday.
Locally, stormy episodes are expected but no worries, they will not be violent. Summer is not over yet, said Monday, in West France a forecaster. The return will be sunny. In the meantime, let's take stock of the day on Wednesday with Alexandre Flouttard, from Météo France.
Thunderstorms are expected over a large part of the country in the afternoon. Will they be strong?
These will be isolated storms, we do not expect major storm damage. We still have warm air that persists over a large eastern half of the country, from Normandy to the southeast through the Massif Central. And in a classic way for the season, we have stormy developments in the day.
These are localized showers that have no violent characters. They affect the southern reliefs, the southern Alps and Corsica, where the thunderstorm will be stronger. But nothing very bad a priori. On Normandy, the Center-Val de Loire and the Île-de-France, it will be isolated, temporary showers that will have no violent characters with some gusts under storm.
The showers will start earlier, at mid-day, but with a peak of activity in the afternoon and it will diminish in the evening. The western part is spared because we have a front which circulates on the Breton part and which brings rather some rains but not stormy character.
You say it's a classic situation for the season ...
It's classic because we have relatively hot air for the season and no air very very cold at altitude. Here, it is rather the air of low layer, near the ground, which is relatively hot. We have had temperatures well above normal over the past few days, particularly on Monday, over the central part of the Paris Basin, to the east and even the center-west. We went well above 30 degrees.
This is the trigger of these storms today. It's really hot air that is present on the surface. But again, there is nothing exceptional in a stormy situation, it's a late summer classic.
Was the summer particularly stormy with the strong heat episodes?
Yes, we had a stormy summer linked to high temperatures, with an exceptional and unprecedented heat wave. The more heat you have, the more energy you have, and it has ended up giving you great storms. Despite this, regions have remained relatively unaffected by rainy activity and remain subject to drought.
Thunderstorms were marked a bit more on the eastern and central-east this year. It is a bit characteristic because in principle, it concerns a little more the south-west of the country.
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Weather. Thunderstorms expected in the afternoon over a large part of the countryOuest-France.frENLARGE
