A heatwave, the second to hit France this summer, will sweep across much of the southern region on Saturday, putting 28 departments on orange alert for extreme heat, with the warning expected to expand on Sunday.
From Dordogne to Haute-Savoie, including Cantal and Drôme, the southern part of the country will experience a weekend with temperatures between 34°C and 40°C, possibly reaching 41°C from the foothills of the Cévennes to the lower Rhône Valley, according to Météo-France.
On Friday afternoon, maximum temperatures of 39.5°C in Saint-Côme-d’Olt (Aveyron) and 39.1°C in Tiranges (Haute-Loire) were recorded.
In the South-East, the nights will be very warm from Pyrénées-Orientales to the Rhône Valley with minimum temperatures between 21°C and 25°C.
By Sunday, nearly the entire southern half of the country, excluding Corsica, will be under orange alert until midnight, according to Météo-France.
Monday could be “the hottest day nationwide,” with the heatwave expected to last until mid-week in the southern half, the forecaster said.
After the first heatwave from 19 June to 4 July, this current episode is the 51st heatwave recorded in France since 1947.
“We are witnessing an acceleration in the occurrence of heatwaves over time. This trend is clearly linked to climate change, which strongly impacts temperatures in mainland France,” said Lauriane Batté, a climatologist at Météo-France, to AFP.
The heatwave poses a “high” risk of wildfires in the Mediterranean area, following a massive blaze in Aude that was brought under control Thursday night after burning 17,000 hectares and resulting in one fatality.
