By Chloe Berry
Published on Jun 26 ’23 at 4:45 PM
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France in the fog? After having embalmed New York and part of the United States, the smoke from the canadian mega fires now reach France.
Since June 2, 2023, Canada, and especially Quebec, has been burning. Hectares of the boreal forest are swallowed by fires in Quebec (Canada), where 81 fires are still active at the time of writing.
Smoke knows no borders, and this has consequences for us, in Europe. Since Monday, June 26, they have been in France and should remain in our atmosphere for several more days, confirms meteorologist Guillaume Séchet, creator of the site Weather-Cities.
A misty sky
It was Mark Parrington, scientific director at the Copernicus atmospheric monitoring service, who announced it on Twitter.
“Heavy smoke from forest fires in Canada is crossing the Atlantic and is expected to reach Ireland, the UK and Western Europe on June 26,” it read.
The Weather Channel has, for its part, confirmed the information this Sunday, June 25. “The smoke from the fires will be taken up by the West wind over the Atlanticand will affect part of France this week, ”explains the television channel.
According to projections by the climate specialist https://twitter.com/WxNB_/status/1672974577293565954expect “hazy skies” and “vibrant sunsets”.
“The sun could not shine”
In fact, the fires in progress in Quebec “are the most important in the country”, indicates Guillaume Séchet, who is in Montreal at the moment, at news.fr. There is an “impressive density of smoke” across the Atlantic, especially in the Quebec metropolis, where, this Sunday, June 25, 2023, “the sun could not shine”.
Covered in acrid smoke, the air quality there has been rated as the worst in the world.
If the gray plume arrives in France, it is because it is carried by a zonal flow, to understand from west to east, which affects part of France. The same flow at the origin of the drop in temperatures over a northern half of the country.
The smoke is present at “all altitudes, but more in high elevations since it is brought by a more regular altitude current”, notes Guillaume Séchet.
“Not very noticeable”
The smoke linked to the boreal forest fires has therefore reached France, and even Paris, specifies Guillaume Séchet.
It happened today, but it’s not very visible. I wonder if it will be more.
On the other hand, “it’s everywhere”, confirms the meteorologist, “but it’s not thick enough for you to wonder what it is”.
On one of the cameras Weather-Cities that we were able to consult, we can clearly see Paris and the Seine under a gray sky. Without knowing, if it is gray because of the rather low clouds, or of the smoke coming directly from Canada.
Consequences for health?
Inevitably, the fumes are not good for the quality of the air, which is deteriorating. However, “with an ocean flow, the air is supposed to be of better quality”, opines Guillaume Séchet. Even if it is largely diluted, “there is carbon monoxide above France”.
Météo-France reassures: “The concentration of particles that have accumulated in New York because of the proximity between Canada and the USA has nothing to do with what affects us more than 5,000 km away.”
With Le Parisien, Mark Parrington, expert at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, believes that an increase in the concentration of particles on the surface in Western Europe is “possible” in the coming days. Nevertheless, this phenomenon “is not expected to be particularly widespread on the continent and is rather located over the ocean”.
The peak at sunset, and after?
On the other hand, this Monday evening, at sunset, you will be able to better realize the presence of this smoke. via “a sunset redder than usual”, assures the meteorologist.
It is when the sun is lowest that we can see it more, since it illuminates the atmospheric layers.
Meteo France, joined by news.frestimates that the fine particles emitted by the Canadian fires will be present on the territory “until the disturbance which will pass Thursday, June 29 causes a washing of the atmosphere thanks to the clouds and the rain”.
However, it is difficult to predict what will happen next. If the smoke is over France for a few days, other episodes are possible later.
“It could, yes,” agrees Guillaume Séchet. “But completely randomly. Everything will depend on the flow and intensity of the fires. These same fires which do not weaken, for the time being, not.
With Maxime T’sjoen
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