Chaotic weather as heatwave returns
Temperatures may hit 39C in Saône and Rhône valleys but thunderstorms promised across much of central France
FORECASTERS are promising “chaotic” weather today and this weekend as a new heatwave makes for heavy and stormy conditions across most of southern France.
It comes after record temperatures in Brive-la-Gaillarde which hit 41.4C yesterday, the hottest since 1987, and 37.3 at Limoges-Bellegarde (since 1973).
Today temperatures are expected to hit 37C-39C in the Saône and Rhône valleys – with an orange heatwave alert in Rhône department – but it will be considerably cooler along the Channel coast from Brittany, from 19C-25C.
A band from Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes, Pays-de-la-Loire across to Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the Ardennes, will see temperatures from 26C to 31C but elsewhere it will be 32-36C.
Storms are circling between Auvergne and Lorraine this morning but will clear midday although remaining heavy and cloudy. Thunderstorms are expected to break out this afternoon in the heights of the Pyrénées, Massif Central, Vosges, Alpes and Jura.
Tour de France racers faced the worst weather of the race so far yesterday after they were caught in a torrential hailstorm in Ariège on the ascent of the Plateau de Beille. Today promises to be just as ‘interesting’ with the threat of storms on their stage from Muret near Toulouse to Rodez in Aveyron.
Today’s orange alert in Rhône came as minimum temperatures this morning were over 20C, with 23.3C at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry airport, and even saw the mercury rising from 24 to 33C between midnight and 1.00 at Troyes in Aube.
Météo : la chaleur revient, #canicule dans le Rhône http://t.co/LIwGwb6wz4 pic.twitter.com/dqPmsyB3zC— Europe 1 (@Europe1) July 16, 2015
It has brought fresh reminders for people to keep themselves cool where possible and drink plenty water.
The sweltering canicule earlier this month is thought to have caused 700 deaths, with the Health Ministry saying there had been 7% more deaths from June 29-July 5 than the average for previous years.
Thanks to readers who have shared tips on how to keep cool – such as Carol Dent who said she had “her pillow slips in the fridge” and Joyce Rousselot in Hauts-de-Seine who improved our earlier suggestion of a frozen bottle of water in front of a fan.
She suggests freezing six bottles and putting three on a stool in front of the fan for an instant cooling effect... when the ice melts swap the three bottles with the iced ones from the freezer.
