Météo-France placed 10 departments on orange alert this Tuesday, January 2 for rain-flooding and/or high water. All are located in the northwest quarter of the country.
The lull was only short-lived in the north of the country. Since January 1, Pas-de-Calais has once again been placed on orange alert for floods. This Tuesday, Météo-France also put it on rain-flood alert as heavy precipitation falls on the northern half of the country. In its bulletin, the meteorological service reports 10 departments on orange alert for rain-flooding and/or floods. Météo-France thus specifies that significant floods are currently “in progress in the Nord department, in Pas-de-Calais, and to come in Finistère”. The three departments have been placed on orange alert for flooding.
Manche, Orne, Mayenne, Sarthe, Finistère, Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique, Vendée and Pas-de-Calais are also on orange alert for rain-flooding. For this Tuesday, the vigilance extends between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and should transform for the rest of the day into a yellow vigilance for rain-flood. “Over the episode, accumulations of between 40 and 60 mm are expected in the space of 24 hours (rather between 40 and 50 mm in Mayenne and Sarthe). It is possible to exceed 70 to 80 mm locally, particularly towards the heights of Finistère”, specifies Météo-France which recalls that “this precipitation also occurs on already saturated soils”.
Pas-de-Calais, Nord and Finistère still on alert Wednesday
If the end of the orange alert is a priori planned, for two thirds of the departments, this afternoon, for the day of Wednesday, three will still be on alert. Thus, Finistère and the North will still be on orange alert for floods tomorrow, just like Pas-de-Calais which will still be subject to orange alert for rain-flooding, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. Météo-France indeed mentions an “episode of heavy rainfall in a sensitive hydrological context” and affirms that “a further increase in precipitation is expected on Wednesday”. In detail, the meteorological establishment mentions showers which will become “progressively stronger and more frequent” during the day on Wednesday, “with sometimes thunderstorms”. Accumulations “of the order of 30 to 40 mm in 24 hours” are expected.