At this time of year, France normally see’s a large rise in tourists as more holidaymakers take advantage of the summer sun. With some amazing beaches, cheaper cost of living, and much better weather, France is one of the most popular places for UK holidaymakers looking for a short getaway.

However, as this year comes around, rather than being packed full of ice cream munching Brits. The beaches are full with rotten egg smelling algae that is potentially deadly. Tonnes and tonnes of the algae has been washed onto the beaches spreading across miles of the French coastline. Normally the algae is within the sea and is not lethal at all, however, when it begins to rot, it can gives out toxic fumes which can be deadly.

Since the algae began washing up, a man has been taken seriously ill after inhaling some of the algae fumes. The 27 year old vet was riding his horse when the horse collapsed and died within minutes after inhaling the fumes, the man then had to be dragged out of metre deep algae.

Many of the councils affected by the algae are spending thousands on cleaning the beaches. However, with over 70 reported beaches being affected this year, making it the worst year so far, it’s a very difficult job to keep going. No doubt this news will have a big effect on French tourism as many tourists are being warned away from the dangerous beaches.

Day trippers won’t be the only people affected by the smelly beaches. People who own holiday homes out there may decide against visiting this year if they can’t visit the beaches. It won’t just be the French tourism that will lose money, the holiday home owners will also because they still end up paying for their house insurance in France despite not actually visiting the house this year.

Insurance for holiday homes is quite expensive so if you don’t end up using the house within the year, it does feel like a waste of money. Obviously, some people will choose to still visit so that they don’t end up wasting money on things like insurance for second homes.

Many environmentalists blame pollution from farming that caused the algae to wash up on shore. They argue that the waste pollution from the intensive farms gets into the water and that’s what causes the algae to get washed up and start rotting. We’ll just have to wait and see what affect this will have on French tourism.