France set for its third heatwave of the year next week
Temperatures of up to 35C are forecast. It comes after an unusually early heatwave in June and July’s record-breaking two-week spell
The third heatwave of the summer is expected to hit France in early August
Marc Bruxelle / Shutterstock
France will experience its third heatwave of the summer at the beginning of August, warns Jean-Yves Choplin, weather forecaster at Météo-France.
He said that the current respite for most of the country “will not last long” after a mid-July heatwave that saw temperatures climb to 40C in some areas.
“High temperatures are expected again from Sunday (July 31) for at least four days,” he told Franceinfo.
“From then, we are forecasting temperatures approaching 30C in the northern half of the country and temperatures between 32-33C in the south.
“This will increase by one or two degrees each day until Wednesday (August 3) when we will have over 30C in the northern half of the country and around 35C in the south.”
Météo-France is not yet able to forecast beyond next Wednesday. No departmental heatwave alerts have yet been issued.
France’s summer of heatwaves
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This new heatwave is expected to be less intense than the one that lasted 13 days between July 12 and 25 and led to several temperature records being set.
It was also the third most intense heatwave in France’s history as well as the fifth longest.
Several wildfires broke out in the country during the two-week spell, notably in the forests of La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras in Gironde. These fires only this week were classed as being under control, although firefighters are still on hand to combat flames.
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Read more: Trapped, injured or fleeing: the animals caught in France’s wildfires
Read more: Ten million homes in France risk structural cracks after heatwaves
It followed another unusually early heatwave that hit France in June.
Read more: Heatwave in France: Ten places where records for June have been beaten
Three heatwaves in one summer is rare but it has happened before and in 2017 there were four.
Mr Choplin said that having several heatwaves in one summer has only been occurring since 2010.
“The intensity of them is also more and more preponderant,” he said.
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