So the storms are back. After a September that barely gave France a drop of rain, Météo-France has put 26 departments on yellow alert for thunderstorms today, and honestly, the timing feels a little cruel. You wait weeks for rain and it shows up as a lightning warning.
The setup is simple enough. A low-pressure system out over the Atlantic is pushing unstable air inland, and Météo-France expects the worst of it to run from Nouvelle-Aquitaine up towards Hauts-de-France. It’s also muggy. Bordeaux and Strasbourg are sitting around 29 to 30°C, which is a lot for the end of September.
If you’re wondering whether your area is on the list, here’s the full run-down. In the southwest and west: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Gers, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée and Vienne. In the centre and Loire Valley: Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Maine-et-Loire and Sarthe. And then the Paris region, where Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Val-d’Oise are all in.
One wrinkle: the far southwest joins the yellow alert from this evening, when fresh storms creep up from Spain. And the map was due for an update at 10 a.m., so it may already look different by the time you read this.
Why this isn’t the relief it sounds like
Here’s the bit that stuck with me. Since September 1, France as a whole has logged exactly one day with more than 1 mm of rain. One. Paris, Nice and Ajaccio haven’t had any since late August.
You’d assume a round of storms would help, and it will, a bit. But thunderstorm rain comes down hard and fast, and dried-out soil isn’t great at soaking it up. A lot of it just runs off. So don’t expect one stormy Monday to undo a drought that’s been building for weeks.
What yellow means in practice
Yellow is the mildest level that still comes with a warning. Expect some heavy downpours, lightning and gusts in patches, nothing apocalyptic. Tuesday looks hot again, then temperatures should fall later in the week once another disturbance moves through.
A few small things worth doing if you’re under the alert: stay away from trees during lightning, don’t drive through flooded underpasses, and pull in the garden furniture before it ends up in your neighbour’s yard.
The bottom line? Enjoy the show if you like storms, check the vigilance map before heading out, and remember the drought hasn’t gone anywhere.