The heatwave will affect more than two-thirds of France, which is suffocating

Sweltering heat will spread across two-thirds of France starting Sunday, June 29, with 73 departments placed on orange alert. Temperatures of 34 to 38°C are expected as of Saturday afternoon in Aude, Vaucluse, Var, Alpes-Maritimes, Haute-Corse, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Ardèche, Drôme, Isère, and Rhône, which also include the orange heatwave alert already in effect since Friday in Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Hérault, and Pyrénées-Orientales.

Temperatures could approach "occasionally 40°C near the Mediterranean" , warns Météo France, which predicts a "stifling night from Saturday to Sunday, with around 20 degrees over a large southern half of the country, 22 to 25 degrees in the south-eastern quarter of France" , and up to 26 degrees near the Mediterranean, "or even a little higher occasionally" .

Starting Sunday, the heatwave will reach "the southern two-thirds of the country, as far as the Île-de-France region" with 73 departments – out of the 96 in total in metropolitan France – placed on orange alert, from the Île-de-France region to the Mediterranean Arc, and from Vendée to Doubs, Météo France announced Saturday morning. The meteorological institute predicts temperatures that could reach between 30 and 35 °C in the Île-de-France region, 34 to 38 °C in the southern two-thirds of the country, or even locally higher, particularly in the Southwest, while 39 to 40 °C will be "regularly reached near the Mediterranean" .

But the worst is probably yet to come, with the peak expected early next week, and Météo France has yet to say when the episode will end. It will last "at least until Tuesday," but as for the end, "whether it will be Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, it's too early to say," says Tristan Amm, a forecaster at Météo France.

This heatwave is affecting all of southern Europe, with around twenty Italian cities, including Rome and Venice, placed on alert. In Portugal, two-thirds of the country will be on orange alert on Sunday, with temperatures forecast to reach 42°C in Lisbon and a maximum risk of fire. In Spain, the heatwave is expected to peak on Sunday, with temperatures exceeding 40°C across much of the country.

In France, the heatwave hotline, which provides advice "on how to protect yourself and those around you," has been reactivated since Saturday. The cause of this new peak is a "heat dome" : a large and powerful anticyclone forms a sort of lid that blocks the air in the lower layers, preventing the entry of disturbances, while gradually warming it.

Since June 19, France has been experiencing its 50th national heatwave since 1947, and its 33rd of the 21st century, a consequence of global warming, which is increasing the intensity and frequency of heatwaves . To cope with this, town halls, prefectures, and firefighters are issuing warnings and recommendations . Work in forest areas is partially prohibited due to fears of fires, air-conditioned premises remain open despite the weekend, the most vulnerable people are being called regularly, and water distributions are being organized...

In Marseille, where some residents sought refuge Friday in air-conditioned shopping malls, the city hall announced that municipal swimming pools would be free and published a map of public places with air conditioning. In France's second-largest city, where schools are often old, the heat has put schoolchildren under strain in recent days, sometimes forcing parents and teachers to provide fans themselves.

With one week of classes remaining, the FCPE parents' association on Friday asked the Minister of National Education, Elisabeth Borne, to urgently issue "clear instructions" to school staff to adapt the reception of students. The city of Nice, which canceled an inter-district football tournament on Saturday due to the heatwave, assures that nearly 250 portable fans "have been delivered in the last two weeks" at the request of school principals and that a distribution of fans to isolated elderly people has also been set up.