French heatwave set to continue amid record May temperatures
Hottest days and nights to come in next few days, warn forecasters
Among the highest temperatures recorded on Saturday were 33.8C in La Rochelle, 33.7C in Fontenay-le-Comte and 32.8C in Bordeaux (pictured)RossHelen/Shutterstock
May temperature records are tumbling around France due to an exceptionally early spell of heat - and forecasters warn that the hottest days are still to come.
12 towns and cities registered new monthly records for May on Saturday, May 23, as temperatures climbed above 30C across large parts of the country.
The episode is expected to continue into next week, with forecasters describing it as one of the most remarkable late-May heatwaves seen in western France in more than a century.
Among the highest temperatures recorded on Saturday were 33.8C in La Rochelle, 33.7C in Fontenay-le-Comte and 32.8C in Bordeaux.
Paris exceeded 30C for the first time this year, reaching 31.9C.
Most of the new monthly records were set in western regions including Vendée, Maine-et-Loire and Brittany.
La Roche-sur-Yon recorded 32.4C, beating a record that had only been updated the previous day.
Forecasters also noted unusually warm overnight temperatures in Normandy. In Livry, Calvados, the minimum temperature reached 20.6C, almost three degrees above the previous May record set in 2017.
Temperatures of up to 32C in Brest and 33C in Quimper were forecast for Sunday afternoon.
Other departments could also be placed on alert by state forecaster Météo-France in the coming days as the heat intensifies. The agency said the current conditions are being driven by a powerful anticyclone stretching from North Africa to the British Isles, trapping hot air over France.
“The hottest days nationally could be Monday and Tuesday,” the forecaster said, adding that the heat is likely to persist until at least the end of the month.
Private forecasting service La Chaîne Météo described the episode as “remarkably early and durable”, comparing conditions in western France to the exceptional heat recorded in late May 1922.
Nights also becoming unusually warm
Forecasters said overnight temperatures are also expected to rise steadily, especially in urban areas where the “heat island” effect limits cooling after dark.
Minimum temperatures in some western cities and in the Paris region may remain between 18C and 20C overnight early next week, approaching so-called tropical night thresholds more usually associated with mid-summer.
Temperatures are forecast to remain between 31C and 35C in many western and south-western areas through midweek, before gradually easing in northern regions from Thursday.
