This scorching episode should be shorter than that of July, specifies Météo-France. The heat peak will be reached on Wednesday and “it will be present Thursday by shifting east”.
Le Monde with AFP
The third summer heat wave extends to France. The heat wave will concern new departments on Wednesday, mainly in the east of the country, with a total of twenty-seven departments placed in orange vigilance, announced Météo-France Tuesday August 2. Twenty-two departments are thus more than the day before that switch to orange alert. In addition, forty -one departments are placed on a heat wave alert.
Departments ranging from Bas-Rhin to Haute-Garonne via Vaucluse are concerned. Most of them are concentrated in the east and south-east of the country. This scorching episode should be shorter than that of July, specifies Météo-France.
The heat peak will be reached on Wednesday August 3 and “it will still be present Thursday by shifting east”, specifies Météo-France in its bulletin. Maximum temperatures “will often be greater than or equal to 35 ° C with points at 39 ° C or 40 ° C in the southwest”. “An improvement in terms of temperatures is looming from Friday by the North West,” adds Météo-France.
Exceptional drought
This rapid return of hot weather strikes a part of the country already affected by an exceptional drought with immediate consequences, especially on agriculture, river transport or aquatic leisure.
Only 9.7 millimeters of aggregated precipitation was recorded in mainland France last month, a deficit of approximately 84 % compared to normal. The figure is close to the 7.8 millimeters of March 1961, record of minima since the first national statements in August 1958.
If now all of France is under drought vigilance with water restrictions at different levels, fifty-seven prefectures have appointed territories in crisis state, synonymous with the judgment of non-priority samples “including Samples for agricultural purposes “.