What do France’s weather warnings actually mean?
France’s national weather agency Météo-France regularly issues warnings for potentially dangerous weather. But what do the different weather alerts mean, and what should you do if there's a warning?
Since 2001, France’s national weather agency Météo-France has issued twice-daily weather Vigilance maps, at 6am and 4pm, which offer an easy-to-see département-by-département guide to conditions over the following 48 to 56 hours.
🔶 2 départements en Orange (https://t.co/CSYEovTI83) pic.twitter.com/Oc1LpCw5NW
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) January 19, 2024
Residents in départements coloured green on the map can relax. That colour means that forecasters expect no particular immediate weather concerns to worry about.
The system has three further levels – yellow, orange and red – which indicate different alert levels based on forecast weather conditions.
As well as the colours, simple and easily recognisable graphics may be added to show what weather conditions to be aware of: a thermometer indicates high temperatures, raindrops forecast heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding, a windsock indicates strong winds, and so on.
Yellow
In areas where yellow alerts are issued, you should be aware that more intense weather conditions are possible that may be locally dangerous for anyone practising outdoor activities – think locally heavy storms, strong winds, such as the mistral, that sort of thing.
People are expected to pay a little more attention to local weather forecasts and take preventive measures if they live in exposed areas or belong to a group at risk.
It's worth noting that even if there’s “only” a yellow warning in place for your département, weather conditions could vary. What’s a stiff breeze in lowland areas, for example, could be more of a problem in exposed hills.
Orange
Yellow weather warnings are not routinely reported beyond regular weather bulletins, but orange ones often make local, regional and sometimes national news.
The recent cold spell in France has seen numerous départements placed under orange alerts, as snow and ice made travelling conditions treacherous.
Anyone living and working in départements under an orange weather warning is urged to be “very vigilant”.
“Dangerous phenomena are expected. Keep informed of developments and follow the safety advice issued by public authorities,” Météo-France says.
During orange or red weather alerts, préfectures and town halls will use local and social media to issue regular advice and updates on staying safe based on the conditions at the time.
Certain protocols will be triggered to ensure vulnerable people are more closely monitored and kept safe - for example in a cold snap cities might open up extra homeless shelters while during a heatwave there will be services available to the elderly and ill.
Red
The highest possible weather alert indicating a possible danger to life - most recently seen when heavy rain caused serious flooding in the Pas-de-Calais département in the far north of France, but also at the height of the heatwave last July when temperatures exceeded 40C in parts of the south of the country.
These are a lot more rare than orange warnings and always make national news.
It means that the weather could pose a significant danger to the public, who should not take part in any activities that could put them or other people at risk.
Under this warning level, “Absolute vigilance is required,” warns Météo-France.
“Dangerous phenomena of exceptional intensity are expected. Keep yourself regularly informed of developments in the situation and strictly follow the safety instructions issued by the public authorities.”
Préfectures and town halls will use local and social media to issue regular advice and updates on staying safe in those weather conditions and will likely also be taking practical action such as making home visits to elderly or vulnerable people or opening up crisis centres (in case of flooding or wildfires where people have to be evacuated) or 'cool rooms' during heatwaves.
You should follow the news and social media closely in case an order is given to evacuate, roads are closed or events are cancelled.
The declaration of a red alert gives local authorities wide-ranging powers to manage the risk - for example in snowy weather lower speed limits can be imposed, during heatwaves events can be cancelled or organisers ordered to make changes to the way the event is managed.
Text message alerts
The other thing that happens when a red alert is declared is that the FR-Alert system swings into action.
This emergency alert system isn't only used for weather - it's intended for big things such as an accident at a nuclear power plant, an invasion or another pandemic - but it is also deployed whenever there is a red weather alert.
Unless you have opted out, a text alert will be sent to your phone if you are in an area where a red alert has been declared - the text is accompanied by a very loud alert, even if your phone is set to silent mode.
It is sent to all phones within the affected area, French or foreign, and if you are travelling it will sound when you enter the alert zone (so if you're on a train expect to hear dozens of alarms all going off at one as your fellow passengers all receive the alert).
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Since 2001, France’s national weather agency Météo-France has issued twice-daily weather Vigilance maps, at 6am and 4pm, which offer an easy-to-see département-by-département guide to conditions over the following 48 to 56 hours.
🔶 2 départements en Orange (https://t.co/CSYEovTI83) pic.twitter.com/Oc1LpCw5NW
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) January 19, 2024
Residents in départements coloured green on the map can relax. That colour means that forecasters expect no particular immediate weather concerns to worry about.
The system has three further levels – yellow, orange and red – which indicate different alert levels based on forecast weather conditions.
As well as the colours, simple and easily recognisable graphics may be added to show what weather conditions to be aware of: a thermometer indicates high temperatures, raindrops forecast heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding, a windsock indicates strong winds, and so on.
Yellow
In areas where yellow alerts are issued, you should be aware that more intense weather conditions are possible that may be locally dangerous for anyone practising outdoor activities – think locally heavy storms, strong winds, such as the mistral, that sort of thing.
People are expected to pay a little more attention to local weather forecasts and take preventive measures if they live in exposed areas or belong to a group at risk.
It's worth noting that even if there’s “only” a yellow warning in place for your département, weather conditions could vary. What’s a stiff breeze in lowland areas, for example, could be more of a problem in exposed hills.
Orange
Yellow weather warnings are not routinely reported beyond regular weather bulletins, but orange ones often make local, regional and sometimes national news.
The recent cold spell in France has seen numerous départements placed under orange alerts, as snow and ice made travelling conditions treacherous.
Anyone living and working in départements under an orange weather warning is urged to be “very vigilant”.
“Dangerous phenomena are expected. Keep informed of developments and follow the safety advice issued by public authorities,” Météo-France says.
During orange or red weather alerts, préfectures and town halls will use local and social media to issue regular advice and updates on staying safe based on the conditions at the time.
Certain protocols will be triggered to ensure vulnerable people are more closely monitored and kept safe - for example in a cold snap cities might open up extra homeless shelters while during a heatwave there will be services available to the elderly and ill.
Red
The highest possible weather alert indicating a possible danger to life - most recently seen when heavy rain caused serious flooding in the Pas-de-Calais département in the far north of France, but also at the height of the heatwave last July when temperatures exceeded 40C in parts of the south of the country.
These are a lot more rare than orange warnings and always make national news.
It means that the weather could pose a significant danger to the public, who should not take part in any activities that could put them or other people at risk.
Under this warning level, “Absolute vigilance is required,” warns Météo-France.
“Dangerous phenomena of exceptional intensity are expected. Keep yourself regularly informed of developments in the situation and strictly follow the safety instructions issued by the public authorities.”
Préfectures and town halls will use local and social media to issue regular advice and updates on staying safe in those weather conditions and will likely also be taking practical action such as making home visits to elderly or vulnerable people or opening up crisis centres (in case of flooding or wildfires where people have to be evacuated) or 'cool rooms' during heatwaves.
You should follow the news and social media closely in case an order is given to evacuate, roads are closed or events are cancelled.
The declaration of a red alert gives local authorities wide-ranging powers to manage the risk - for example in snowy weather lower speed limits can be imposed, during heatwaves events can be cancelled or organisers ordered to make changes to the way the event is managed.
Text message alerts
The other thing that happens when a red alert is declared is that the FR-Alert system swings into action.
This emergency alert system isn't only used for weather - it's intended for big things such as an accident at a nuclear power plant, an invasion or another pandemic - but it is also deployed whenever there is a red weather alert.
Unless you have opted out, a text alert will be sent to your phone if you are in an area where a red alert has been declared - the text is accompanied by a very loud alert, even if your phone is set to silent mode.
It is sent to all phones within the affected area, French or foreign, and if you are travelling it will sound when you enter the alert zone (so if you're on a train expect to hear dozens of alarms all going off at one as your fellow passengers all receive the alert).
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