67 departments on alert as French heatwave peaks

A total 67 departments in France remain on orange heatwave alert on Monday, as the heatwave that has gripped the country for more than a week reaches its peak.

Météo France forecasters said that temperatures could again reach 39C in the southwest on Monday - but added that cooler air from the Atlantic will start to bring relief on Tuesday afternoon.

By Thursday, temperatures are expected to be in line with, or even a little below, seasonal norms.

The forecaster said: "The peak of the heatwave should be on Monday in southwestern regions, Tuesday over those of the northeast, the centre-east and the Paris basin."

On Sunday, temperatures north of a line between Nantes and Metz dropped slightly, but in the south of the country, the mercury ranged between 33C and 38C. Chusclan (Gard) and Carpentras (Vaucluse) both recorded official temperatures of 39.5C.

Overnight temperatures, too, remained high. L'ile Rousse in Corsica, recorded a temperature of 26.7C at 5.30am on Monday. It was 25C in Nice at the same time, 24C in Limoges, Istres and Perpignan, and 23C in Paris, Dijon and Lyon-Bron.

Traffic controls were in place in Paris and parts of the southeast of the country, as the high pressure causes spikes in levels of air pollution on Monday. City Hall announced vehicles that have Crit'Air 4 or 5 stickers are banned from an area within the A68, as are those that do not have a sticker. But, officials said that police and wardens will "show discernment" as it is peak holiday season.

In other areas, speed limits have been cut by 20kph to reduce pollution.

The departments on orange alert are: Ain (01), Allier (03), Alpes-Maritimes (06), Ardèche (07), Aube (10), Aude (11), Aveyron (12), Bouches-du-Rhône (13), Cantal (15), Charente (16), Charente-Maritime (17), Cher (18), Corrèze (19), Corse-du-Sud (2A), Haute-Corse (2B), Côte-d'Or (21), Creuse (23), Dordogne (24), Doubs (25), Drôme (26), Eure-et-Loir (28), Gard (30), Haute-Garonne (31), Gers (32), Gironde (33), Hérault (34), Indre (36), Indre-et-Loire (37), Isère (38), Jura (39), Landes (40), Loir-et-Cher (41), Loire (42), Loiret (45), Lot (46), Lot-et-Garonne (47), Haute-Marne (52), Meurthe-et-Moselle (54), Moselle (57), Nièvre (58), Puy-de-Dôme (63), Pyrénées-Orientales (66), Bas-Rhin (67), Haut-Rhin (68), Rhône (69), Haute-Saône (70), Saône-et-Loire (71), Savoie (73), Haute-Savoie (74), Paris et petite couronne (75-92-93-94), Seine-et-Marne (77), Yvelines (78), Deux-Sèvres (79), Tarn (81), Tarn-et-Garonne (82), Var (83), Vaucluse (84), Vienne (86), Haute-Vienne (87), Vosges (88), Yonne (89), Territoire-de-Belfort (90), Essonne (91) and Val-d'Oise (95).