(Toulouse) 37 provinces, or a third of the country, are on a red or orange vigil with 18 million people involved: An unprecedented heat wave is on the rise in France, with peak temperatures expected on Friday and Saturday.
Updated yesterday at 5:12 PM.
On Thursday in Herault, in Saint-Jean-de-Minervois, the thermometer rose to 40 degrees Celsius: a record for speed accuracy in France with the exception of Corsica, according to Météo-France.
The Red Vigil, the highest level of the National Heat Wave Plan, will begin Friday from 2:00 p.m. in 12 provinces located in the southwest and the Atlantic coast: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Haute-Garonne, Gires, Gironde, Landes and Lot-et- Garonne, Deux-Sèvres, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Vendée, and Vienne.
Météo-France also expanded the vigil of orange to include 25 provinces, from Aude in the south of the country, to the center and Morbihan in the northwest.
On Friday, temperatures will increase across the country, and 40 degrees Celsius will be repeatedly reached or even exceeded over a large area in the southwest, according to Météo-France. And on Saturday, “absolute records can fall” on the axis of Landis, Poitou-Charentes, Vendée.
“This is the first heat wave ever recorded in France” since 1947, says Mathieu Sorrell, a climate scientist at Météo-France.
“Many monthly and even absolute records […] It has to be overcome in several areas,” he says, considering it “a sign of climate change.”
turbulent Occitanie road
This is the fourth time – and the oldest in the season – that the heatwave red vigil has been used since the system was put in place after lessons learned from the historic heatwave of 2003 that killed more than 15,000 people in France.
The Ministry of Health activated a toll-free heatwave information service number to answer questions and provide advice, and the education number announced that school and university students from the 12 departments marked in red will be able to stay at home on Friday.
In the Tarn District, the county announced on Friday the cancellation of the start of the second phase of the Duccitane Road which was due to take place in the town of Graulheit.
“We’re bringing the race back to Aveyron Circle” in an orange alert, Roman Cobain, a member of the cycling organiser, told AFP. The stage will therefore be significantly shortened, from 154.6 km to 36 km.
The Tarn Governor also canceled the giant-screen broadcast of the Castres-Toulouse Best 14 semi-finals, which took place on Friday in Nice.
Tarn District President Christophe Ramond and Castries Mayor Pascal Buges strongly criticized the decisions, with both expressing dissatisfaction.
In Gironde, the director announced that she would ban “all public demonstrations outdoors or in non-air-conditioned places” from Friday 2 p.m., noting that the other six New Aquitaine counties that have been placed on a red alert must take the same action.
To the north, in Vendi, the county has lifted confinement measures for poultry after an outbreak of bird flu.
In Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin, road users are required to reduce their speed by 20 km/h, especially on motorways, due to heat wave-related ozone pollution.
pool and sauce
Thursday in Toulouse, where the thermometer reached 39 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, residents are still taking advantage of outdoor activities. In the Alfred Naccache Pool, which is exceptionally open until 8:30 p.m. due to the heat, Leila Kabo watches her two sons, ages 7 and 15, swimming. “There was a big heat wave in 2003, but not like this,” she says.
And in the evening, on the banks of the Garonne River, thousands of people took part in the Rio Loco festival, which continues until Sunday. Despite the breeze coming from the river, fans were well placed before the various stages to listen to Spanish Rodrigo Cuevas or Uruguayan Jorge Drexler, salsa dancing with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
But in nursing homes, the situation of seniors is of particular concern, as accommodation establishments for dependent seniors (EHPAD) adapt watering facades, ice cubes in drinks, fans, and long cascades in air-conditioned rooms.
“We are more vigilant than usual with older people. It’s hard for them,” says Sarah Galbert, a home nurse at Tarn:
With the heat, the air quality has also deteriorated in Ile-de-France as well as in many of the departments of Occitanie, PACA and Hauts-de-France.
For their part, firefighters are on the alert for a fire, favored by the heat and dry vegetation.
In addition, air conditioners and fans are increasing electricity consumption, forcing France to import, according to RTE.
