SHARE
COPY LINK

WEATHER

Weathermen bring more bad news for France

Hopes that France's long, hard winter would be followed by a warm, sunny spring have been well and truly washed out after a weekend of heavy rain and storms. The country's weather agency says more bad weather is on the way.

Weathermen bring more bad news for France
Tourists walk under the rain at the feet of the Eiffel Tower on May 16, 2013 in Paris. Photo: Fred Dufour/AFP

After the long, cold winter which saw much of the country hit by snow the French are crying out for some sun, but it seems they will have to wait a while yet.

After staying away for much of winter and spring the sun is still not ready to make a regular appearance in France.

According to Météo France, the national weather agency, the heavy rain that kept most people trapped in doors over last weekend’s Pentecost holiday is to continue until the end of the month, meaning that Spring 2013 is set to be one of the coldest in the last 20 years.

And even the normally sunny Mediterranean has been affected by the foul weather.

The Cannes Film Festival, is normally basked in sunshine but if you looked at images of stars taking shelter under umbrellas as this year's event, you could be forgiven for thinking it was being held in Caen, Normandy rather than Cannes on the Mediterranean.

According to Météo France, temperatures in northern France for the first half of May 2013 were two degrees below average temperatures  recorded for this time of year.

And apart from Brittany in the west of the country average temperatures have been down right across France.

The period has also been marked by heavy rainfall, which lead to severe flooding of the Seine river in the region around Troyes earlier this month.

It has rained for a up to eight consecutive days in parts of northern France and in parts of the east residents have had no less than 12 successive days of downpours.

With Météo France predicting no improvement until next Wednesday, T-shirts and shorts will have to be stored away for a while longer.

France's tourism industry has been severely impacted by the bad weather and those in the industry are just hoping things will improve by the summer holidays.

"The industry is believed to have suffered losses of around 10 percent," Didier Arine director of agency Protourisme told French daily Le Parisien.

"Generally we cannot make up for the losses and if the horrible weather continues there is a risk the French will head abroad for heir summer holidays," Arino continued.
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS