2024-04-06 04:14:10
A taste of summer but also of a France shaken up by climate change. Saturday April 6, France will experience a brief but exceptional heat peak, with temperatures expected to reach or even exceed the 30°C mark in the South-West, and 25°C in the northern half of the country. “It’s about ten degrees above normal. It is very rare to reach such levels this early in April”, indicates Tristan Amm, forecaster at Météo-France. 30°C is normally reached between mid-May and the end of June in mainland France.
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From now on, under the effect of warming, heat and extreme heat thresholds are reached earlier and earlier in the spring – and later in the fall. So that summer takes precedence over the other seasons more than ever.
In detail, after a rise in the mercury on Friday, 30°C could be reached on Saturday in the south of the Center region, or even exceeded, in the Landes, the Basque Country and the Pyrenean Piedmont, with up to 31 to 32° C in places. These last two areas could even experience “tropical nights” on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures not falling below 20°C. During the day, the thermometer should also display 25 to 29°C in Center-Val-de-Loire and 26 to 28°C in the Paris basin, Champagne, Franche-Comté and Alsace. The only exceptions: Brittany, Cotentin, the west of Pays-de-la-Loire and the Gulf of Lion will be spared the heat, due to disturbances which will cause some rain.
The national thermal indicator, which averages the daily temperature at 30 stations spread across the entire French territory, should be between 17 and 18°C for Saturday, unheard of for the beginning of April. This episode cannot, however, be qualified as a heat wave according to Météo-France, which applies precise criteriain particular a thermal indicator greater than or equal to 25.3 ° C for one day.
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Temperatures will start to drop on Sunday
How can we explain this early rise in mercury? “A depression, positioned off the Atlantic, functions like a heat pump which brings hot air coming from Africa towards France”explains Tristan Amm. “This configuration is classic, but with global warming, it induces higher temperatures than in the past”, specifies Aurélien Ribes, climatologist at the National Center for Meteorological Research. This heatwave is reinforced locally, particularly near the Pyrenees, by what is called a “foehn effect”. “The south wind, after crossing the Pyrenees, will fall back onto the ground on the French side. This compresses the air mass and heats it”continues Tristan Amm.
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