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CLIMATE CRISIS

France records longest ever winter dry spell

France has recorded its longest ever winter dry spell - 32 consecutive days with less than 1mm of rainfall - raising fears of another summer of droughts and water restrictions.

Published: 21 February 2023 12:17 CET
Updated: 22 February 2023 10:07 CET
France records longest ever winter dry spell
A view of the Fourcade lake, which is half dried, near Saint-Nexans, western France in February. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)

French weather forecaster Météo France has recorded 32 consecutive rain-free days – defined as a day when the average rainfall across France is less than 1mm – the first time this has been seen since records began in 1959.

As of February 20th, the country had only accumulated about 10 percent of its expected precipitation for this time of year, although there is rain forecast for the end of this week.

ANALYSIS How likely are water restrictions in summer 2023?

The summer of 2023 saw record-breaking droughts in France, with water restrictions in place across much of the country and huge wildfires in the south west.

Experts now fear the rain-free period in January and February could spell a repeat this summer, although the next three months are crucial.

February 2023 is on track to be one of the driest ever recorded in France, after Europe endured its second-hottest year ever in 2022, with France, Britain, Spain and Italy setting new average temperature records.

READ MORE: Water limits, apps and leaks: How France plans to deal with future droughts

Climatologist Simon Mittelberger told Le Monde that the current lack of rain “is mainly linked to the anticyclonic conditions since the end of January, which have acted as a kind of shield” to stave off rainfall.

According to Météo France, the current dryness of the soil across France corresponds to what would be expected in mid-April, meaning it is two months ahead of schedule. 

Climate experts anticipate that the country will end the month with a rainfall deficit of over 50 percent, which would make it one of the driest since 1959.

Some parts of the southern part of the country have been placed on the yellow alert, namely in Pyrenees-Orientales. 

This means that agricultural water usage is more tightly regulated, and watering gardens, golf courses, and washing cars is restricted to certain times. You can find more specific information for the Pyrenees-Orientales département HERE. 

Propluvia map showing parts of France with drought alerts, Screenshot taken by The Local

Concerns for the summer

Météo France told Le Monde that the country is “experiencing a worrying meteorological drought”, as winter rainfall is crucial to help recover lost groundwater ahead of the summer. 

Last month was the third-warmest January on record in Europe, with temperatures on New Year’s Day reaching all-time highs in some parts of the continent, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate monitor (C3S).

Farmers are also worried about low precipitation levels this winter. In the Rhone Valley, there has not been any significant rainfall since December 15th, according to TF1.

This has caused farmers to be concerned about potentially lower yields this year, as some plants, like wheat, cannot grow properly with the lack of water.

“To maintain these plants, you don’t need much, but you can’t leave them without a drop of water. At this time of year, zero rainfall is really detrimental,” Jean-Pierre Royannez, farmer and president of the Drôme Chamber of Agriculture, told TF1.

Climatologists have said that the next three months will be “decisive”, particularly in determining ground water availability for the summer. 

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Rising sea levels threaten Normandy’s historic D-Day beaches

As France prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, erosion and rising sea levels are threatening to strip away what remains of the physical history of the Allied invasion of Europe

Published: 7 May 2024 14:47 CEST
Rising sea levels threaten Normandy's historic D-Day beaches

From Ouistreham (Calvados) to Ravenoville (Manche), the Normandy coastline is littered with relics of June 1944. The Normandy tourism office lists more than 90 official D-Day sites, including 44 museums, drawing millions of visitors every year.

But the sea from where liberation came is now threatening to reclaim its heritage: cliffs and dunes are subject to erosion, while marshes and reclaimed land are at risk of being submerged.

The landscapes today of the famed beaches are nothing like the ones codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, that the Allied forces endured in 1944, an official for the Conservatoire du Littoral in Normandy told AFP. 

The Gold Beach marshes in Ver-sur-Mer, “will be transformed in 10 years or so,” he added, as sea water rises to reclaim land that had been drained in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Mayor of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and director of the Utah Beach Museum Charles de Vallavieille told Ouest France that  “we don’t have the right to do anything” to stop the advance of the sea. “The law protects dykes but not dunes,” he said. “We can’t get any help even though it’s a problem that affects the whole coast – protect one place and the water will go elsewhere”.

Pedestrians walk past remains of the British Artificial harbour at “Gold Beach”. (Photo by Lou BENOIST / AFP)

Between the American and British sectors, the Bessin cliffs – where German artillery batteries pummelled the beaches from hard-to-reach areas such as Pointe du Hoc – have been slowly falling to wave impacts, sea salt, freezes and thaws in the decades since 200 American rangers overran the occupying soldiers there. 

In 2010, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), which manages the site, spent $6million to protect it. It “secured the area, [and] consolidated 70 metres […] with reinforced concrete walls, micropiles to stabilise the soil and a complex network of sensors monitoring the subsoil for any significant movement”.

Coastal pathways in the area have been “set back 20 metres” to ensure public safety, the ABMC has said.

But with sea levels rising a few millimetres a year, inexorably and inevitably changing the face of the coastline, nature is reclaiming the beaches of Normandy, and their blood-stained human history will become a matter of historical interpretation, rather physical fact.

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