The prefecture of Ile-de-France placed Tuesday July 2 in “drought” vigilance “Paris, the Hauts-de-Seine, the Seine-Saint-Denis and the Val-de-Marne, thus joining the whole other metropolitan departments, already concerned.
Le Monde with AFP
struck by a third wave of summer heat which goes up and intensifies in the south of the country, France is now entirely struck by drought, after the passage from Paris and its small crown under “vigilance”, consequence of A driest July ever recorded.
The prefecture of Ile-de-France placed Tuesday August 2 in “drought” vigilance Paris, the Hauts-de-Seine, the Seine-Saint-Denis and the Val-de-Marne, thus joining the whole other metropolitan departments, already concerned. The “vigilance” level, known as “Orange”, is the first of 4 levels of drought. He provides measures like avoiding cleaning your car or rationing watering, but no restrictions, explains the prefecture press release.
unpublished forest fires
A drought that worsens while France lives its third heat wave in just two months, making the consequences of global warming even more perceptible. “An episode of heat wave is confirmed for the middle of the week, focused on Wednesday and Thursday with maximum temperatures between 34 to 38 ° C and locally 40 ° C,” said Monday evening Météo-France. Consequently, four departments in the south-east (Ardèche, Drôme, Gard and Vaucluse) and the Pyrénées-Orientales remain in orange vigilance.
Fifty other departments, south of a line from Charente-Maritime to Alsace, are in yellow vigilance. “Wednesday, a heat peak is expected with maximum temperatures reaching most often 34 to 38 ° C, and locally 39 to 40 ° C on the Toulouse South”, specifies Météo-France, before the hot axis shifts Thursday to the northeast.
In this context, already conducive to unpublished forest fires, a fire ravaged on Monday “at least 450 hectares” of maquis in the town of Santo-Pietro Di Tenda in Haute-Corse.
Another illustration of negative consequences, the Ardèche announced on Monday the emergency installation of six air conditioners within a childhood home in Privas, where “has been a” stifling heat “for weeks, according to A Community press release.
soil drying
This new heat wave looks brighter and less intense, specifies Météo-France, than that of mid-July, during which absolute records had been broken in 64 municipalities, flirting or even exceeding 40 ° C in several localities .
But this rapid return of hot weather strikes a major part of the country already affected by an exceptional drought and with immediate consequences, especially on agriculture, river transport or aquatic leisure.
Only 9.7 millimeters of aggregated precipitation was recorded in metropolitan France last month, a deficit of approximately 84 % compared to normal, almost as little as the 7.8 mm of March 1961, the minimum record Since the first national surveys in August 1958. “This strong precipitation deficit, which follows a very dry spring and combined with hot weather, has contributed to aggravating soil drying”, warns Météo-France.
If now all of France is under “dryness” vigilance with water restrictions at different levels, 57 prefectures have appointed territories in crisis state, synonymous with the judgment of non -priority samples “including Samples for agricultural purposes “. “Only the samples making it possible to ensure the exercise of priority uses are authorized (health, civil security, drinking water, sanitation)”, explains the government’s drought information site, Propluvia.
Western Europe faced a historic drought in July and two waves of heat in just a month, during which ravaging forest fires like Gironde, Spain or Greece were triggered.