French authorities issued severe storm warnings today and expanded the red heat alert to 72 out of 100 departments, a day after France reached 30°C, the highest average temperature in its history.
The new red alert, which will take effect at 12:00, extends to 14 more departments in the east and northeast of the country. At the same time, 11 departments in the west and southwest of the country will reduce their meteorological alert level from red to orange starting at 22:00.
There are three other departments (Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, and Vaucluse) that moved to a yellow alert at 06:00, following a slight improvement in weather conditions along the Mediterranean coast. Météo-France warned that temperatures will remain exceptionally high, both day and night, in the areas under the red alert.
In many parts of the country, thermometers were already recording temperatures between 20 and 27 degrees Celsius early in the morning, with 27°C in Paris-Montsouris and 27.5°C in Bordeaux-Mérignac by 05:00.
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The Mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, stated today that the situation in the French capital is “quite critical” and that there has been an “increase in mortality” due to the heatwave, but refused to provide figures.
“It is extremely difficult. The situation is, in some aspects, quite critical,” the socialist mayor acknowledged in statements to TF1, while calling for caution among the most vulnerable people.
Grégoire recognized the need for more emergency measures, highlighting that nearly 400 air conditioners have already been delivered to schools in Paris and that just as many will be delivered to classrooms.
“We need a complete paradigm shift,” he declared, adding that it will not be necessary to air-condition every classroom in every school.
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The French meteorological agency revealed that Wednesday was the hottest day ever recorded in France since national measurements began in 1947, with a national average temperature of 30°C. Throughout the day, several temperature records were broken in western France: 43.7°C in Fontenay (Vendée), 42.2°C in Nantes, 42°C in Vannes, 41.8°C in Le Mans, and 41.4°C in Tours.
In addition to the extreme heat, authorities issued an orange alert for storms in several western and southwestern departments. The forecast predicts heavy rain, intense wind gusts, and a risk of hail starting this afternoon and evening.
The departments currently under an orange alert for storms are Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Hautes-Pyrénées, and Gers, as well as Côtes-d’Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Manche.
Météo-France does not rule out extending the alert to neighboring areas, depending on the evolution of the weather forecast.
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According to forecasts, a cooler air mass from the Atlantic will begin to enter the western region of the country tonight, causing locally severe storms and a gradual drop in temperatures along the Atlantic coast starting Friday. However, the intense heat will persist across large areas in the east of the country.
