French Riviera the weather between various locations. Strong winds such as the Mistral, a cold dry wind from the northwest or from the east, are another characteristic, particularly in the winter. Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes département are sheltered by the Alps. The winds are usually gentle, from the sea to the land, though sometimes the mistral blows strongly from the northwest, or, turned by the mountains, from the east. In 1956 a mistral from the northwest reached at Nice Airport. Sometimes, in summer, the sirocco brings high temperatures and reddish desert sand from the Sahara. (See Winds of Provence.) Rain can be
Airbus Zephyr to monitor our adversaries for weeks on end, providing critical intelligence for our armed forces." A purchase of two Zephyr-8's was reported in February 2016. The British Ministry of Defence later confirmed the purchase of a third Zephyr 8 platform. The Zephyr 8 will have roughly 24 kg of batteries and a 5 kg payload, and be 30 percent lighter and carry 50 percent more batteries than the Zephyr 7. In August 2016, the MOD confirmed the purchase of a third Zephyr. In addition to Zephyr 8, otherwise known as Zephyr S, full-scale flight testing is scheduled for a twin-tailed