Canada has been confronted with gigantic forest fires since the beginning of the year. The resulting fumes finally reached France this week. How about a Limousin? Should we be worried?

A white, hazy, milky sky. This is what we have been witnessing in New Aquitaine since Tuesday June 27th. Hardly noticeable with the naked eye, These clouds of smoke reached France this week, after covering the skies of New York or Montreal. They come from around 400 wildfires that are still uncontrollable in Canada, which have burned more than seven million hectares of forest since the beginning of the year, according to the statement Canadian government.

But don’t panic, these clouds of smoke that stretched over 5,000 kilometers have nothing to do with those that stagnated in the American air. These fumes are actually less harmful: “They are very scattered at altitude, up to 4 kilometers above us, and the particles are very diffuse. The maximum is expected tomorrow, but there is no need to worry“, assures Sandrine Lafont, forecaster at Météo France Limoges.

Information confirmed by the regional air observatory, Atmosphere Nouvelle-Aquitainethat monitors air quality: “There is a very slight increase in the concentration of PM10 type particles, which are quite coarse, and fine particles, but we are still a long way from reaching the maximum legal limits.” says Julie Gault, communications manager.

According to Atmo, Limousin is “rather spared“through these feathers. “This particularly affects Poitou-Charentes and Gironde in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.adds Ms. Gault: “but the situation is pretty normal.”

Two firefighters from Corrèze I have to help Canada to try to get these major fires under control. Check out the report from our France 3 Pays de Corrèze team:

We can hope that these clouds of smoke will dissipate by Thursday evening, June 29, in the region and by Friday, June 30, in France. The weather conditions are indeed favorable: rain and wind are forecast for this Thursday by Météo France. “While the wind moves the clouds but does not disperse them, the rain helps to deflate them and allow the pollutants to fall to the ground. A bit like when clouds of dust rise from the Sahara and the rain causes the sand to fall to the ground. It’s a kind of washout“, explains Ms. Gault again.

However, “We are not immune to changes in the weather or new smoke from Canada” she insists.

Even if the situation is not worrying,”Some people may be sensitive to fluctuations in the concentration of particles in the air as they still remain a pollutant“, specifies Julie Gault. For information you can access air quality measurements the Atmo website.

Therefore, several health recommendations should be taken into account, especially for vulnerable and vulnerable people, which are available on the site Ministry of Health websiteas :

• Continue to ventilate your home
• Limit physical activities that are too intense
• Avoid main roads and cars (drivers are more exposed to air pollution than pedestrians or cyclists)
• Watch for symptoms such as eye irritation, difficulty breathing, cough