Heatwave-hit south of France set for respite by the weekend

Weather experts say the heatwave hitting the south of France is expected to come to an end by the weekend.

Temperatures have hit 40C in departments on the country’s Mediterranean coast in recent days.

A ‘heat dome’ over the south-east has kept temperatures high, even at night, leaving residents no chance to escape the oppressive weather.

Four departments are on a tier-three orange weather warning - the second-highest level - for the heat on Friday (July 21).

They are:

• Var
• Alpes-Maritimes
• Haute-Corse
• Corse du Sud

However, La Chaine Méteo says the situation will soon ease for much of the south.

“For Thursday, it will still be just as hot around the Mediterranean, especially in the lower Rhone Valley. Then, a more general drop will be felt on Friday, where only Corsica and the Alpes-Maritimes could experience a final scorching day. For this weekend, the south-east will return to more usual temperatures for this season, from 30 to 34°C,” the channel said on Thursday.

“To date, no new heatwave is expected in France for at least ten days, offering respite to nature. The heat dome will shift towards Greece, where the heat wave is likely to persist all next week.”

Lack of overnight respite

Météo France says the phenomenon of a heatwave at this time of year is “not exceptional”, but due to the extended duration of the hot weather residents must stay vigilant, “particularly those who are vulnerable”.

The official warning given by Météo France, a canicule, does not necessarily mean temperatures are excessively high during the day – although they are incredibly hot – but that temperatures do not cool down at night.

Usually during hot weather, the evening brings cooler air and by extension cooler temperatures, allowing houses and public spaces to cool down, but for several nights, temperatures in the affected areas have been far above 20C even at night. At 05:30 on Thursday, a temperature of 25C was recorded at Nice airport.

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Aside from the south-east, typical summer temperatures will be seen, reaching up to 30C in Lyon and 26C in Paris.

Brittany and Normandy will see much cooler temperatures, not breaking 25C.

Alert over forest fires

The high temperatures are also causing concerns over forest fires.

Three departments – Bouches-du-Rhône, Vaucluse, and Var – have been given a tier-three orange warning over forest fires on Thursday (July 20), with a number of other departments in the south-east seeing tier-two yellow warnings.

Despite escaping the heat, a swathe of northern departments stretching from Nantes to Paris will see tier-two forest fire warnings, with Essonne also seeing a tier-three warning.

Credit: Météo France

The forest fire forecast began this year, aiming to help both emergency services and residents better prepare for the event of a forest fire

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With the ongoing heatwave in the south, the government is desperate to prevent a repeat of last year’s forest fires, which saw up to 70,000 hectares of woodland burnt.

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