Cold wave this week in the whole of France – Le Figaro

temperatures will be below normal and will fall from Tuesday. The government has put in place a “national steering daily” outstanding.

It will be very cold this week on the whole of france. The temperatures will be 8°C below normal, at an exceptionally low level. In the coming days, the thermometer is expected to drop to -11°C in Mulhouse, -9 in the Massif central and in Strasbourg, -6 to Toulouse and -4 to Marseille. “A wave of cold will be in place on Tuesday and will continue until the end of the week. There will be virtually no thaw on the major part of the country,” says the Weather network* on its Internet site.

A wave of cold “moderate-intensity”

Can we talk about a cold wave exceptional? “No, because in the past we’ve had a cold very hot on our country,” replied Pascal Hernandez, a forecaster on the Weather network, which prefer to speak of a “cold wave of moderate intensity”. “We need to go back to 2012 to get a period that is comparable in terms of duration but also in terms of intensity. February 2012 to be very specific where there we had reached -15, -16, -17, -20°C on some parts of the country. It will not necessarily even in these extremes, but temperatures will widely fall” this week. “This is not” exceptional”, goes-t-he. “But it is true that, for the first time in five years, we will have virtually a full week of very cold weather”.

temperatures very negative in the East of the country

Already low enough on Monday, the temperatures will drop starting Tuesday and until Friday. “In the middle of the week, we will leave -15°C in the East (locally -20°C on the soil snow in the valley bottoms) to -5°C near the Atlantic in the morning to a peak between -5 and 0°C in the afternoon on the Ÿ in the country,” details the String Weather. “Only the shores of the Mediterranean and the atlantic will keep temperatures positive in the afternoon”.

A felt “cold”

feel-like ” temperatures will be even lower. “With a wind oriented predominantly to the North-east, of continental origin, bise, tramontane and the mistral will add to the feeling cold,” says the Weather network. “With temperatures close to 0°C in the afternoon, the feeling will be the more often close to -5 Tuesday to Friday next in the whole of France“, she adds.

Why is it so cold?

due to an anticyclone that brings down cold air from the north-east of Europe to France. And because “the depressions are positioned on the Mediterranean”, complete yet Pascal Hernandez. “All this induces from Tuesday the presence of a wind continental, which from Russia to the western Europe, the breath, creating the sensation of great cold”.

The government is putting in place a national scheme

in the Face of this offensive from the cold, the government has put in place Saturday a “national steering daily” to anticipate the needs. The first minister Bernard Cazeneuve has called the local authorities and the associations to make available accommodations for the homeless. The civil security, the police, the gendarmerie and the fire brigade also mobilized. A “balance sheet daily needs” should be established by the prefects. The minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, had called as early as Friday to “increased vigilance”, in order to prevent the poisoning, carbon monoxide falls due to snow and the consequences of health related to cold, while the epidemic of seasonal influenza is in full swing. Messages were broadcast this weekend on the radio.

Electricity: possible exceptional measures as soon as Tuesday

Although the cold weather may lead to an increase in the consumption of electricity, “there are no cuts planned,” said the manager of the electricity transmission network, RTE. However, it could be forced to trigger as soon as Tuesday of exceptional measures, such as encouraging consumers to reduce their consumption during peak hours. On Monday, the minister of the Environment, Ségolène Royal, will present a series of measures to be reminded of these simple actions to save energy, like turn off the room is left unoccupied, disconnect the devices in sleep mode unnecessary, pass at a temperature of 18°C” details-t-it in the columns of the Sunday Newspaper. This cold snap occurred a few days after the winter storm that hit the country on Thursday and Friday, leaving more than 330,000 homes have electricity.

Hazards of snow and avalanches in the pyrenees

on Monday, a snow storm affects the Pyrenees and the avalanche risk is maximum on the whole massif, cautions the Weather network in a special press release. Five departments have therefore been placed on alert level yellow for a high-risk situation related to conditions conducive to snow. It is of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Ariège and Pyrénées-orientales. The organization of weather, also warned of avalanche risk.

on its side, Météo France has placed four departments in vigilance orange snow and sleet with a risk as “very strong” avalanche. The access road to the principality of Andorra has been closed since Saturday morning. An avalanche has already occurred Saturday in the early afternoon in the area of Laruns (Pyrenees-Atlantiques), causing the death of a hiker.

* The Weather network is a company of the Figaro group.

(with AFP)