With summer approaching and the risk of forest fires increasing, Météo France is launching a daily bulletin to help mitigate risks and encourage vigilance by the populace.  

As the old adage says, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In the case of forest fires, this couldn’t be more true.

Summer is high season for fire risks, and if the past few years are anything to go by, this summer could be as hot and dry as the last. Last year, France saw a significant number of fires gobbling up vast swaths of woodlands, and whilst not all could have been prevented, better knowledge of risk may have averted some.

To that end, Météo France will start putting out announcements every day from 1st June through to October to let people know what the fire danger levels are department by department.   

The new alerts will tell the public about the latest meteorological conditions, such as wind, heat, humidity and dryness of vegetation, in each region of the country so that people can adjust behaviours that may be considered dangerous in such situations.  

CREATED AFTER THE 2022 FIRE SEASON 

France’s catastrophic 2022 fire season saw over 65,000 hectares burned, with the Var and Alpes-Maritimes suffering some major incidents.  

This spurred President Emmanuel Macron to act by bringing together actors in the fight against forest blazes to come up with a way to try and prevent a repeat. The idea came about to create a “forest weather forecast”.  

The bulletins will show four levels of danger – green, yellow, orange and red – to help emphasize what vigilance the public should take.  

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Photo source: Fabian Jones for Unsplash