The episode of exceptional drought hitting France continues to grow. The entire metropolis, with the exception of Paris, Hauts-de-Seine and Seine-Saint-Denis, is now placed on drought alert at different levels, the Ministry of Ecological Transition said on Thursday. “Today we have 93 departments concerned by a restriction beyond vigilance, on at least part of the territory: 9 on alert, 38 on heightened alert and 46 in crisis”, specifies the ministry.
A large majority of the departments south of a line running from Calvados to the Alpes-Maritimes are in drought crisis. The other departments south of this line are on heightened alert, except Côtes d’Armor, on alert. Since Wednesday, “we note the passage of Haute-Vienne and Hautes-Alpes in crisis, Yvelines have gone on alert and Haute-Loire on heightened alert”.
Driest July ever
Restrictions on water use vary according to the alert threshold, ranging from a ban on watering gardens at certain times, to a halt to non-priority withdrawals, including withdrawals for agricultural purposes. At the crisis level, only withdrawals allowing the exercise of priority uses are authorised, linked to health, civil security, drinking water and sanitation.
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Metropolitan France should experience its driest July since the start of measurements in 1959, according to Météo-France. Also according to Météo-France, which publishes monthly trends for the next three months, “the ‘warmer than normal’ scenario is the most likely for France” for the period from August to October, with confidence ” moderate” in this scenario. “A ‘drier than normal’ scenario is most likely over much of central Europe, from the northeast quarter of France to Poland and western Ukraine,” but ” no scenario emerges on the other French regions, ”says the meteorological service.
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