The mercury will continue to climb Wednesday in France where almost all departments are in heatwave alert, after a day having already seen several cities beat their absolute temperature record.
This is a “hot episode requiring special vigilance especially for sensitive or exposed people” who “will save few regions,” warned Météo-France in a bulletin broadcast at midnight. The phenomenon is expected to continue until Thursday at 13:00 “at the earliest”.
At dawn on Wednesday, showers washed the western facade of the country but the sky appeared “well cleared” in the east.
In the afternoon, the thermometer will show 22 to 25 ° C on the shores of the Channel, and more than 30 ° C everywhere else, reaching 40 ° C in the Great East, in Rhône-Alpes and in Provence.
For this new canicular episode, the second in less than a month, 80 departments, a record, were placed on orange alert. The alert has been raised in La Manche but it is almost all the Hexagon that is concerned.
Several cities beat their absolute temperature record Tuesday with 42.1 ° C in Brive, 41.2 ° C in Bordeaux (40.7 ° C in 2003), 40.8 ° C in Châteauroux (40.5 ° C in 1906), 40.7 ° C at Angers (39.8 ° C in 1947), 40.7 ° C at Le Mans (40.5 ° C in 2003) or 40.1 ° C at Rennes (39.5 ° C). in 2003), according to Météo-France.
Records had already fallen Tuesday morning, with a night that had never been so hot in the Southwest: 24.8 ° C in Bordeaux-Mérignac or 24.6 ° C in Toulouse-Blagnac.
But the worst is for Thursday! Météo-France is forecasting temperatures of 37 to 42 ° C over a large part of the country, with peaks at 43 ° C locally.
Paris should beat that day his record of 1947 (40.4 ° C). But the absolute record for France of 46 ° C, which dates from June, will however not be reached.
The drop in temperatures will then be “spectacular” Friday on the west of the country, but it will be necessary to wait until Saturday to see the end of this episode on the whole territory.
Heat waves, already more frequent in France, are expected to multiply and intensify under the effect of warming caused by human activities.
This hot episode is accompanied by usual peaks of ozone pollution in Paris, Rhône-Alpes or Alsace, pushing for the implementation on Tuesday of differentiated traffic in Lyon and Paris, where it was renewed for Wednesday. Lille will also set it up on Wednesday and Thursday.
– The driest –
The heat wave comes at a time when 73 departments are already affected by water restrictions. It “will accentuate the drying of shallow soils in the coming days,” warns Météo-France, while many regions are already experiencing a “marked rainfall deficit” for a year.
“Several cities are experiencing their drier summer beginning since the beginning of the measures”, such as Tours, Melun, Romorantin, Orleans, Rouen and Nantes, among others, according to the organization.
“For the moment, it is tense but controlled, but we must be very vigilant,” said Secretary of State for Ecological Transition Emmanuelle Wargon after the meeting of the Commission for Hydrological Monitoring of the National Water Committee . She notably called everyone’s “civility” to avoid wasting water, “very precious at this time”.
To help farmers, the government will request the advance payment of part of the European aid, a cash advance of one billion euros.
The road transport of animals in the context of an economic activity is prohibited to him between 13H00 and 18H00 during the canicular episodes.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has pointed out the risk of fires. “More than 3,200 hectares have already gone up in smoke since the beginning of summer, it’s more than the entire season last year,” he said.
The heat wave will also boost electricity consumption this week, but production will be sufficient, said Monday RTE, the manager of the high-voltage network.
For its part, EDF announced Monday that the two nuclear reactors of the Golfech power station (Tarn-et-Garonne) would be stopped because of the heat wave. Their restart is expected at best on Tuesday, July 30th.
Despite the heat, EDF has so far not asked for relaxation of the rules governing the discharge of hot water from its nuclear power plants but has only adapted its electricity production, said Tuesday the Nuclear Safety Authority ( ASN).
