2023-08-20 13:42:00
A heat stroke unprecedented in its magnitude at the end of August continued to overwhelm a large southern half of France on Sunday with abnormally high temperatures which should rise further at the start of the week, a cooling not being envisaged than Thursday.
Sunday evening, after already long hours in the oven, the thermometer was still struggling to descend in the areas concerned, and, despite nightfall, it still lingered above 30 degrees in Montélimar (35 °C), Toulouse (34°C), Montpellier and Lyon (32°C) or even Perpignan (31°C).
In the afternoon, throughout the territory, the hottest temperature was recorded at 5:00 p.m. in Moulès-et-Baucels (Hérault): 42.2 degrees, specified Météo France, but other areas such as the Drôme also experienced an average of 40°C, well above normal for the season.
On Monday, the number of departments placed on heat wave orange vigilance will reach 50, with Charente-Maritime joining the 49 on Sunday.
Temperatures will soar, between 33 and 37 degrees, up to 37 to 40 degrees in Occitania and from Rhône-Alpes to Provence and Var. It will be locally 41°C in the shade, especially between Drôme, Ardèche, northern Gard and Vaucluse.
“The heat wave peak is expected between Tuesday and Wednesday”, underlines Météo-France, specifying that “absolute records” of temperatures “risk being beaten, in particular Tuesday towards the Rhone valley, with 40 to 42 degrees expected”.
“Then, a drop in temperatures is expected from Thursday, or even Friday”, specifies Météo France.
This episode of heat is the most intense of the summer of 2023 and “one of the latest with such a level of intensity”, according to the public establishment.
“heat dome”
The current meteorological configuration creates a “heat dome”, “with the high pressures which block the heat”, explained to AFP Météo France, adding: “The second ingredient is global warming which increases the probability to have high temperatures so late”.
It is in this stifling atmosphere that many motorists took to the road again this Sunday, classified orange at the national level in the direction of returns by Bison smart.
In the afternoon, traffic was relatively fluid throughout the country, but the high temperatures mixed with road traffic gave rise to episodes of air pollution, for example in Occitania (degraded quality in 11 departments and bad in Hérault and Gard) or in the south-east (ozone pollution in Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes).
In the big cities, in an attempt to relieve the populations, the town halls have sometimes reinforced specific measures, with the start of the heat wave.
Additional marauding and devices to hear from isolated people have been organized by the municipalities which have invited residents to get closer to “cool places”: swimming pools, parks or air-conditioned museums, often extending their opening hours.
“hell on earth”
Advice followed but perhaps a little too literally by the customers of Aqualand in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne). “It’s hell on Earth. We are at 3,800 visitors and it’s still coming in,” Sylvain Chatain, director of this water park, told AFP.
In Marseille, the city announced free access to all municipal swimming pools until the end of the heat wave, as well as the night and day opening of the Catalans beach, near the Old Port.
The high temperatures also required increased caution in the face of the risk of fire, especially in the south-east: four forest massifs were closed on Sunday in the Var, as were nine of the 25 massifs of the Bouches-du-Rhône.
On the energy supply side, an EDF spokeswoman told AFP that there had not yet been any “modulation” in the activity of the power stations “due to high temperatures”.
However, reductions in production can be decided in order to avoid excessive warming of the rivers which cool the reactors, as was the case for several French power stations during heat waves last year.
20/08/2023 22:14:03 – Toulouse (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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