“Cyclonic” swell on the Atlantic coast: calls for caution despite an easing of the phenomenon on Wednesday

The yellow wave-submersion alert that Météo France had imposed on six departments, from Brittany to the Spanish border, in connection with the cyclonic swell that hit the French coastline, ended at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, August 27, according to the latest bulletin from the meteorological agency. It affected Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère, Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Landes, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

This swell, caused in the Atlantic by Hurricane Erin , which threatened the eastern coast of the United States last week, is reinforced by high tidal coefficients. After the attenuation observed on Wednesday, this "powerful swell" called cyclonic could rage until the end of the week.

For its part, the Gironde prefecture maintained the rip current alerts , these rip currents dangerous for bathers , and submersion waves for Wednesday, calling in a press release for "the greatest vigilance for coastal users", given the strong winds and "high tidal coefficients which can generate significant swell with waves reaching 4 to 5 meters" on the coast.

On Tuesday, waves exceeding 4 to 5 meters in height prompted several municipalities to prohibit holidaymakers from accessing beaches, notably in Lacanau (Gironde), Biarritz, but also Mimizan and Biscarrosse (Landes).

In Lacanau, forecaster Jeff Deloume, who keeps daily surf reports on the Lacanau surf infos website, reported a "long swell" on Wednesday with regular waves of 2 to 2.50 metres, the largest reaching up to 4 metres in height.