The mistral is blowing hard and the fear of a major fire is growing: Météo-France has placed the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the south-east of France on orange alert for forest fires for Tuesday and Wednesday, due to high temperatures combined with a drought.
Nine out of ten fires are of human origin
For Wednesday, the Mediterranean department of Aude will also be affected by the “high” alert level in the “forest weather” created in 2023. This “high” danger level is the third on a scale of four, the most alarming level of which is the red alert, which means that the risk of fires breaking out is “very high”.
“Nine out of ten fires are of human origin” so the forest weather forecast indicates that “the drought conditions and the weather conditions in the department lead to a high level of danger if a fire breaks out”, specified Météo-France.
For Tuesday and Wednesday, several weather parameters explain the triggering of the orange alert in Bouches-du-Rhône: “wind, temperature, humidity, recent precipitation and the level of drought”, detailed Météo-France. It is then up to the prefectures to decide whether or not to restrict access to the forest areas.
