The heatwave continues across almost all of France, Thursday August 13, with 80 departments placed on orange vigilance until Friday inclusive. With the exception of part of the North-East, three Pyrenean departments, Lozère and Haute-Loire in yellow, the entire rest of France is in orange with once again a day of very high heat.
This heatwave episode “reaches its peak for the days of Thursday and Friday”, estimates Météo-France. In its bulletin published early Thursday, the meteorological organization spoke of a “very hot night”. Around 5 a.m., the temperatures recorded were 27.5°C in Nice, 24.5°C in Sète, 23.5°C in Limoges and 23°C in Rennes.
“Except on a thin coastal edge and at altitude, maximum temperatures will be above 35 degrees,” warns Météo-France. And the strongest will be recorded from Centre-Val de Loire to Nouvelle-Aquitaine, where the maximums will be between 38 and 40°C, or even a little higher at the peak. In Île-de-France they will be close to 38°C”, it is added.
See alsoWith the heatwave, France produces less electricity but consumes more
Scorching temperatures “will gradually shift a little further east” on Friday, the forecaster predicts, beginning a gradual drop in the northwest which will be “especially noticeable and significant during the weekend”.
Repeated heatwaves this summer could cost “around 10 to 15 billion euros”, according to the Minister of Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, who brought together the Hydrological Anticipation and Monitoring Committee on Wednesday. There are many economic disruptions. EDF’s nuclear reactor fleet notably reached a record on Wednesday morning for so-called “environmental” outages linked to extreme heat and the massive arrival of jellyfish at the Gravelines power station.
Some 1,370 rivers have broken flow or dried up
The question of access to water is also on the agenda with this extremely hot and dry summer.
“The first of our priorities obviously remains the drinking water supply which is already under pressure in several territories, more precisely today in 50 French departments,” said the Minister of Ecological Transition. “More than 40,000” people are affected by tap water cuts, according to the government.
The situation of small rivers is “the most critical ever recorded at this time” of the year, with 43% of them, or nearly 1,370 rivers, showing flow disruptions or drying up, the minister indicated.
This new heatwave episode is the continuation and amplification of a heat wave that began on July 28.
This is the third heat wave of the summer, after the exceptionally intense one at the end of June and that from July 4 to 19, among the longest on record. Before that, an early heatwave episode took place at the end of May.
In the context of global warming linked to human activities, these periods of high heat are more frequent, intense and extended over the year.
With AFP
