Weather report. For eight days, this Western department has not seen the sun

The figure is there, distressing, but not surprising. Since Tuesday, October 29, the Météo France station in Beaucouzé – the reference station for Maine-et-Loire – has not recorded any hours of sunshine.

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A situation “extremely rareanalyzes meteorologist Sébastien Decaux. Even in December 2010, marked by phenomena of the same type, we did not find such a sequence”. At the time, two periods of four consecutive days without sun followed, but interspersed with a day during which the star showed its rays.

A strong moss anticyclone

The explanation for this exceptional situation is quite simple. “A gigantic anticyclone covers Europe from London to the Black Seadescribes Sébastien Decaux. With high pressures, 1,030 hectopascals in Angers, it presses the ambient humidity to the ground”.

As autumn is already well advanced, “the sun no longer shines vertically and no longer offers the power necessary to dissipate the cloud cover”. And since there is no wind, the fog does not lift. Everyone who has tried to dry laundry outside in recent days has noticed: it's a wasted effort.

No improvement before the 13th

Establish forecasts in this context, “it’s a headache for meteorologists”admits Sébastien Decaux. But according to him, the situation should remain blocked throughout the weekend, and even “until November 12 inclusive”. Apart from, possibly, a possibility of clearings arriving from the South during the afternoon of Friday.