Weather: nice, it's finally going to rain!

With a watering can in each hand, Jean-Claude conscientiously watered his hydrangeas like every night since the start of confinement. This Parisian professor who took refuge in Agon-Coutainville (Manche) is amazed by this ritual. "The garden is all burned, it feels like summer, blows the fifties. We are looking forward to the rain. ”

600 km away, José looks at his fields with a sorry air. “The land is completely dry, rage the market gardener installed in the Meuse. The economic situation is already difficult with the coronavirus crisis. With this drought, we run to disaster ”.

Since mid-March, a large part of northern and eastern France has been experiencing a particularly severe period of aridity. The departments of Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Vosges and Meuse have thus recorded less than a millimeter of rain since the beginning of April. In dozens of municipalities, not a single drop of rain has fallen since the start of containment. What cause an agricultural drought, one that affects the surface soils where plants usually draw their water.

“The winter was very rainy, including until mid-March. An anticyclone was then positioned in northern Europe and this blockage situation persists since the start of confinement, explains François Jobard, forecaster at Météo France. This is not a new phenomenon, but it is quite rare at this time of the year. The two comparable dry periods date back to 1997 and 1961. They have been the only since 1947 ”.

"It was summer before time"

This phenomenon does not, however, affect the reserves of the water tables, the level of which is considered "significantly above average", according to the office of geological and mining research (BRGM) which publishes each month a bulletin of the hydrogeological situation. However, it was accompanied by several episodes of high heat. A situation that delighted the population confined to accommodation with a garden or a terrace. Especially when you know that vitamin D is a weapon against the virus.

Paris (27.1 ° C), Rouen (25.3 ° C), Saint-Brieuc (25.3 ° C), Lille (24.9 ° C) or Saint-Quentin (24.5 ° C) have beat their heat records for the first decade of April. Temperatures 10 to 12 degrees above seasonal norms. "Even if it seemed strange, I admit that we appreciated," smiles Malick, who spends confinement in a house in Aisne with his family. We took advantage of the garden with the children and brought out the barbecue. It felt like it was summer before time. ”

Farmers and ranchers, on the other hand, rather cringe. "The drought adds to those of previous years and the stocks of fodder are already low", warns the FNSEA, which claims aid to the State and the European Commission.

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Good news for the farmers, the return of rain over the northern half of the country is expected all week. "We can expect accumulations between 20 and 40 millimeters, with precipitation that will not spare many people, says François Jobard. This will significantly improve the situation. The floors will rewet. It only takes several days or weeks of rain to return to normal ”.

The forecaster is also optimistic about the national situation. "It is not catastrophic in terms of average accumulations which have shown a deficit of 23% since the beginning of March," he continues. It is not a concern. The driest spring dates from 2011 with 110 mm of rain in France. As of April 26, we are 105 mm and the coming weeks will be very rainy. May is also one of the wettest months of the year. Chances are it will have a catch-up effect. ”