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STORM

Weather warning issued as coast braces for storm

Violent winds and massive waves are battering the Britanny coast and expected to hit the west of France over the next 24 hours. Eleven French departments have been put on orange alert.

Published: 15 December 2011 10:35 CET
Updated: 15 December 2011 12:19 CET

Meteo France says it is expecting the first big winter storm with very strong winds this week, AFP reports. The French weather forecaster is expecting winds to reach 120 to 130km/hour on the coastline.

The Channel coast is already seeing massive waves, expected to reach heights of six to seven metres on Thursday. Three departments, Côtes d’Armor, Finistère and Morbihan, were already on orange alert on Wednesday, but the warning was extended to eight other departments.

There are fears the storm could be as violent as the Xinthia storm in 2010, which killed 29 people in the sea resort of Faute-sur-mer in the western department of Vendée.

Meteo France warns that residents should look out for falling trees and flying objects. Local fishermen have also been banned from going out to sea.

In the northern Pas-de-Calais department, Meteo France warns of possible flooding if the heavy rain causes the already swollen river Lys-Amont to overflow.

On Monday, one person died in the port of Hendaye in the Pyrenees, after being sucked out to sea by waves battering the coast.

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WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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