High temperatures set to return to France next week

Temperatures are set to soar again next week with another heatwave potentially coming to France.

Despite September 1 being the start of the meteorological autumn season, a ‘heat pump’ of low pressure wind – already set to cause storms in the south west this weekend – will push hot wind up from North Africa into France.

The hot air will see temperatures begin to rise towards the end of the weekend before hitting a peak during the course of next week.

The higher-than-average temperatures are expected to run from Monday to Thursday, although the beginning of the week is set to be the hottest.

Highs of over 38C in south west

Weather forecasters La Châine Météo (owned by Le Figaro) reports that temperatures will rise sharply across almost all the country but that the south and south west will be most affected.

“Temperatures will be 5C or 6C higher than usual across most of France,” it said, adding that temperatures could be “more than 10C higher” than early September averages in the south west.

Generally, temperatures north of the Loire river will see less of a dramatic rise than those in the south, but will still be higher than usual for the time of year.

Highs of 28C are expected around Lille and the northern coastline.

Brittany is the exception to this rule, however, and is expected to be one of the areas most impacted by the ‘heat pump’ phenomenon.

Temperatures in the region – which largely escaped August’s heatwave – could reach as high as 33C over the course of next week.

Elsewhere, maximum temperatures of 31C (Paris) and 34C (Lyon, Limoges and Bordeaux) are forecast.

Certain parts of the south west could even see temperatures of 40C at the beginning of the week, particularly north of Bordeaux around La Rochelle and Rochefort.

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Records for this time of year could be broken

Forecasters are not ruling out that an official ‘heatwave’ could be declared, due to the intensity and duration of the temperatures.

Despite the levels expected next week, temperatures in the month have hit above 40C in the past (40.2C in Pissos, near Bordeaux), and the capital saw highs of 35C in September 2020.

This means it would take another exceptional hot spell to beat these records – although forecasters have not ruled this out yet.

Some might rush to call this an ‘Indian summer’ (L’été Indien) but for this phenomenon temperatures usually have to be above average for around two weeks or more.

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