More than 110 rescue operations at sea have been carried out in the Channel and in the Atlantic since late Saturday afternoon while the wind is still blowing.
More than 110 rescue operations at sea have been carried out in the Channel and the Atlantic since late Saturday afternoon due to a strong gale still in progress, the maritime prefectures of Brest and Cherbourg announced on Sunday, putting warn against going out to sea in the immediate future.
“More than 80 operations” were carried out in northern Brittany and on the Atlantic coast, as well as “29” in Normandy, an “unusual number in this season”. The meteorological event claimed one victim, a kite-surfer thrown against a building on Saturday evening in Villers-sur-Mer (Calvados).
“Faced with the violence and the suddenness of the current meteorological phenomena, caused by the meeting of masses of hot air on the ground and cold coming from the ocean, the maritime prefecture of the Atlantic (Brest, editor’s note) formally advises against boaters and water sports enthusiasts to go out to sea again at least for the next 24 hours”, recommends the institution.
“The stormy episodes being very localized”, she “recalls the importance of consulting the weather reports and in particular the marine weather forecast” before any outing at sea. The maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea (Cherbourg) “ recalls that weather conditions can change quickly at sea” and makes additional recommendations: “do not overestimate your physical abilities, inform your relatives of your intentions (in particular the expected time of return), check the condition of your equipment”.
Several operations continued on Sunday, said the maritime prefecture of Brest. Concerning these interventions of the last 24 hours, it is, she specifies, “mainly ruptures of moorings, damage to propulsion requiring towing or assistance”. “Several helicopter winches” were also carried out, according to the press release from the prefecture whose area of competence extends from the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to the Spanish border. “These interventions mobilized a large number of search, rescue and assistance resources from the Snsm (National Society for Rescue at Sea), the armed forces and civil security”.
12° in Ouessant this Sunday afternoon
These operations took place on the entire coast, from the coasts of Brittany to the Charentes, to the Gironde, “including the Spanish zone of the Bay of Biscay, it was specified from the same source.
“The boaters were a lot surprised by the degradation of the weather”, had commented in the morning the on-call communication officer. In addition to accidents at sea, searches have been initiated on several occasions for people reported missing by their relatives, for lack of news and worried about changing weather conditions.
“Such a high number of interventions is unusual in this season,” it was pointed out.
Météo-France had announced this sudden deterioration from Saturday evening of weather conditions on the coast. Sunday in the middle of the day, force 8 winds (between 60 and 75 km/h) were still blowing on the northern coasts and the western facade of Brittany as well as on the western coast of Cotentin. These winds were expected to ease slightly at the end of the afternoon. The Normandy coasts up to the Bay of Somme were swept by winds up to force 7.
Far from the temperatures of the last few days, Météo-France announced Sunday afternoon 12 in Ouessant, 13 in Brest, 15 in Quimper and Saint-Brieuc, 21 in Rennes.