Tempestuous Times
Storm Nils
CLIMATE CHANGE SEASONS
2/18/20263 min read
Everyone here is talking about the weather. If I were in the U.K. that would not be unusual. Just about all casual conversations that take place in Britain involve that day's weather in some shape or form. But in France? Rarely! Suddenly that has changed. Whenever we bump into one of our neighbours, the primary topic of conversation is the phenomenal change in the weather that we are experiencing. I have already mentioned the weeks and weeks of rain. Now in addition we have strong winds. Last week, areas to the south and west of us were issued with red alerts , and we were under orange alert. Tempête Nils (Storm Nils) was on its way. Beginning on Wednesday night, fierce winds have blown, whistling around our house in fierce rafales( gusts.) Day after day , it has continued, as we waited for a calmer period in which to take our daily walk. At their worst, rafales topped 140 km per hour. As you will see from this week's forecast( see below) strong winds are set to continue for the foreseeable future, albeit somewhat reduced. Just about the whole of France still exists under severe weather warnings, but now things are complicated by flooding. After all the rain that has occurred, the land is waterlogged, and rivers are overflowing their banks, .
Beware avalanches, storms, floods, strong winds and black ice!
Only the green areas are free from warning.
On Saturday morning we received our weekly email from the Maire. This contains village news, and news from the wider department of Hérault. We learned that all forests throughout Hérault had been completely closed to everyone, including propriétaires( owners.) This ban had apparently been imposed from the previous Wednesday, and would last until the following Monday at the earliest. Apparently, we were going against this decree. What were we to do? We stayed put! When we eventually ventured out again to walk in the forest, we saw the devastation that had occurred. It was fortunate that we were not passing underneath this tree as it fell across the road that runs past our house.
All around us the forest floor is littered with twigs and broken branches. Some branches haven't snapped off entirely and remain hanging there like broken limbs. Fortunately, in spite of being surrounded by oaks and pines, we have not suffered too much damage on our own property. However, a friend tells us that five of the beautiful Aleppo pines that grace the approach to their house , are in a precarious state, and one has even fallen through the roof of their little stone mas( outbuilding.) Yes, we have a lot to talk about , weather wise, nowadays. What's more, I am beginning to hear the word climate change more and more.
