2023-08-22 00:17:08
Four of the 50 departments placed in orange vigilance by Météo France switch to red. The announcement was made during the day by the Minister for Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, during a visit to Lyon. This ultimate threshold corresponds both to an exceptional meteorological event and to a health alert justifying maximum mobilization, with risks of excess mortality.
The decision was taken, according to the minister “given the persistence of the heat wave and the temperatures”. It targets the departments of Rhône, Drôme, Ardèche and Haute-Loire. 49 departments are on orange alert. Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne are switching from yellow to orange, announces Météo France in its new bulletin.
A heat wave unprecedented in its magnitude at the end of August began to fall on Sunday over a large southern half of France with abnormally high temperatures. These will continue to climb today and until Wednesday. According to Météo France, local records are likely to be broken on Tuesday, particularly in the Rhône valley, with 40 to 42 degrees expected, pending the expected peak on Wednesday of this episode “particularly late for the season”.
“At the national level, we meet the criteria for a heat wave in the climatological sense of the term. It started on August 17, so already four days,” Météo France told AFP on Monday, which only forecasts a drop in temperatures for Thursday or Friday. The heat wave system has also been reinforced in transport, announced Christophe Béchu. The device will be maintained “as long as necessary”.
The current meteorological configuration creates a “heat dome”, “with the high pressures which block the heat”, explained to AFP Météo France on Sunday, adding: “The second ingredient is global warming which is increasing the probability of having high temperatures this late”.
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