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WEATHER

High winds and hailstorms: What weather can we expect in France this week

France's latest heatwave has largely abated but now storm warnings are in place for several areas - here's what we can expect from the weather this week.

Published: 16 August 2022 09:10 CEST
High winds and hailstorms: What weather can we expect in France this week
Storms are predicted to hit much of France this week. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)

Last week saw scorching temperatures but for most of the country these fell over the long weekend, and many areas saw some very welcome rain.

However on Tuesday several areas are on orange alert for storms.

Tuesday

Five départements in the south of France – Aveyron, Tarn, Aude, Hérault and Gard – are on orange alert for violent storms, which are forecast to hit in the afternoon.

Flash flooding is possible, especially in the Languedoc area where up to 40mm of rain is predicted to fall in less than an hour, accompanied by 100km/h winds. 

The rest of the country is on yellow warning for rainstorms, and flash-flooding could be seen in other areas.

The combination of parched ground after weeks of drought and the sudden, intense downpours creates the perfect condition for localised flooding.

Temperatures have fallen about 10C since the weekend, and will be between 15C and 20C for most of the country.

Wednesday and Thursday

Although the high winds are predicted to have blown themselves out, storms are forecast for much of the country with thunder and heavy rain.

Temperatures will remain a cool 15C-20C.

Friday

Although rain remains likely in the north and east of the country the storms are set to be finished and sunny weather and warm temperatures return to the south.

All along the Mediterranean coast will be sunny all day with temperatures reaching 29C.

Weekend

A little rain and cloud are likely in the north and centre of the country, but largely the weather is predicted to be fine and sunny with temperatures ranging from 20C-25C in the north and 25C-29C in the south.

Drought

Unfortunately meteorologists predict that the storms will do little to help France’s drought, as much of the water from sudden storms is likely to run off the parched land, rather than soak in.

Water restrictions remain in place across almost all of France and experts say the water table is unlikely to be fully replenished until late September or early October. 

MAP: Where in France are there water restrictions and what do they mean?

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ENVIRONMENT

The guardian angels of the source of the Seine

The river Seine, the centrepiece of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in July, starts with a few drops of water in a mossy grotto deep in the woods of central France.

Published: 25 April 2024 09:43 CEST
The guardian angels of the source of the Seine

And not a day goes by without Jacques and Marie-Jeanne Fournier going to check the source only a few paces from their door.

“I go there at least three times a day. It’s part of me,” 74-year-old Marie-Jeanne told AFP.

Her parents were once the guardians of the source, and now that unofficial mantle has fallen on her and husband Jacques.

Barely 60 souls live in the village of Source-Seine in the wooded hills north of Dijon.

By the time the tiny stream has reached the French capital 300 kilometres away it has become a mighty river 200 metres wide.

But some mornings barely a few damp traces are visible at the source beneath the swirling dragonflies. If you scratch about a bit in the grass, however, a small stream quickly forms.

The source — one of two spots where the river officially starts — bubbles up through the remains of an ancient Gallo-Roman temple built about 2,000 years ago, said Jacques Fournier, 73.

Celtic goddess

But you could easily miss this small out-of-the-way valley. There are few signs to direct tourists to the statue of the goddess Sequana, the Celtic deity who gave her name to the river.

In the mid-19th century Napoleon III had a grotto and cave built “where the source was captured to honour the city of Paris and Sequana,” said Marie-Jeanne Fournier.

Her parents moved into a house next to the grotto and its reclining nymph in the early 1950s when she was four years old.

Her father Paul Lamarche was later appointed its caretaker and would regularly welcome visitors. A small stone bridge over the Seine while it is still a stream is named after him.

“Like most children in the village in the 1960s,” Fournier learned to swim in a natural pool in the river just downstream from her home.

“It was part of my identity,” said Fournier, who has lived all her life close to rivers. She retired back to Source-Seine to run a guesthouse because “the Seine is a part of my parents’ legacy”.

The Olympic flame is due to be carried past the site on July 12th on its way to Paris.

The couple will be there to greet it, but as members of the Sources of the Seine Association, they are worried how long the river will continue to rise near their home.

Every year the grotto has become drier and drier as climate change hits the region, where some of France’s finest Burgundy wines are produced.

“My fear is that the (historic) source of the Seine will disappear,” said Marie-Jeanne Fournier. “Perhaps the source will be further downstream in a few years.”

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