Heatwave in France: 24 departments still on alert, forecast for continued heat
The heatwave continues, but it is now confined to the south of France. Twenty-four departments are still under heat alert this Friday, July 4. Temperatures remain high, with peaks of 39°C in some areas.
The essentials
- The heatwave isn't over, but it's now confined to the southeastern quarter of France. Twenty-four departments are on heatwave alert this Friday, July 4, including 14 on orange alert. The number of orange alerts is expected to increase to 13 this evening and will continue Saturday morning.
- Temperatures remain very high in the Mediterranean regions, the middle Rhône Valley, and the Grenoble basin. Maximum temperatures range between 32 and 37°C, with occasional rises to 38 or 39°C.
- Thursday night was once again tropical, with temperatures ranging from 20 to 26°C, and even as high as 28°C in Menton. According to Météo France, temperatures were sometimes "close to monthly records at sunrise." The coming night will remain very hot in the orange departments, despite a "slight drop" in temperatures.
- This is a historic heatwave: never before have so many countries been placed on heatwave alert at the same time. As for the red alert, now lifted, this is the sixth time it has been activated since its creation in 2004.
The days continue to be hot in these 14 departments still placed on orange "heatwave" alert by Météo France: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Aude, Bouches-du-Rhône, Corse-du-Sud, Haute-Corse, Drôme, Gard, Hérault, Isère, Pyrénées-Orientales, Var and Vaucluse.
Although the heatwave has passed in many departments, fire vigilance is still in order. A large part of the country will be at high altitude tomorrow, but five departments around the Mediterranean (Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hérault, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales) and Vendée remain in storm conditions.
With the heatwave, you've definitely seen them or been tempted to buy one. Mini portable electric fans are all the rage during heatwaves. In addition to being practical, they've almost become a must-have item. In June, reports Le Figaro, sales of these small devices increased fivefold compared to May on the AliExpress website. But their ecological impact is colossal. They're cheap, of poor quality, and made abroad. You only use them for a few weeks, and then they're forgotten in a drawer as soon as the heat passes. If you haven't lost it by next summer, it probably won't work anymore. Yet these fans have crossed a huge part of the planet to reach your hands. They then end up in nature, along with the plastic and heavy metals needed to power their batteries. Perhaps the best thing to do is stick with the good old fan.
6,000 homes were left without electricity during the heatwave due to the negative impact of the heat on the electricity grid. It must be said that the grid is particularly sensitive to heat, which causes operational problems. The weather has a significant impact on the French grid, between heat, floods, and thunderstorms. At the end of June, violent storms that hit France left 20,000 homes without electricity.
The heatwave is over for much of the country, but that doesn't mean the end of the scorching summer. The weekend will be cooler, but temperatures will rise again by the middle of next week. On Thursday the 10th, temperatures will easily reach 30°C across most of the country, with temperatures struggling to fall below 20°C at night, according to Météo France forecasts.
The heatwave is still with us this Thursday in the south of the country. In the afternoon, maximum temperatures rose to 37 and 38°C in the Mediterranean regions, according to Météo France. It was also hot in the Rhône-Alpes region, but the mercury remained between 30 and 33°C. The night will follow the same trend with a tropical atmosphere, once again: between 23 and 27°C are expected around the Mediterranean with 23°C to 27°C, between 20°C and 22°C from Rhône-Alpes to the plains of the southwest.
L'Internaute
