“A big hit of tobacco”. It is with this formula that Météo-France announced on Friday January 28 a strong windstorm on Monday January 31 in the South-East of France. It is the Var which should be the most impacted by this mistral storm.
The Var in yellow vigilance
According to the latest forecasts, gusts at nearly 130 km / h are expected in the Var, especially on the Toulon mountains. They are expected at around 110 km / h on the coast.
The department was placed on yellow alert from Monday, January 31, at 10 a.m.
It should also blow hard in the Alpes-Maritimes, but to a lesser extent.
“In the Alpes-Maritimes, the reliefs and probably the Mercantour area might be affected”, clarified to Nice morning Sylvain André, consultant meteorologist at the Nice branch of Météo-France.
A “sudden and remarkable” gust of wind
The strong gusts of mistral might cause damage in our departments, even power cuts, according to Météo Côte d’Azur.
“This gust of wind will be sudden and remarkable! It might cause some wind damage, for example on homes or in parks/forest areas as well as plantations. Power and telephone cuts might even affect distribution networks. Road traffic might be made very difficult on the entire network as well as transport (train for example). Avoid risky paths and activities, walking will be difficult and dangerous”. deciphered the Côte d’Azur Weather Facebook page.
Call for vigilance
The Var prefecture has already launched a call for “greater vigilance”, especially for “use of fire”.
The Prefecture is worried “Only residues reactivate on Monday under the effect of the wind”.
A concern shared by the Var firefighters on Twitter. “The absence of rain for several weeks has imposed on us the greatest vigilance It front of risks from forest fires”, they tweeted.
Last summer, the Var was hit by a violent fire which killed two people and devastated 7,000 hectares of vegetation in the department in mid-August.