Temperatures to near 40C in southern France as summer confirmed as hottest ever
Five departments on orange alert; only second time France has issued this level of heatwave alert in September
Heatwave alerts have once again been raised in parts of southern France, with five departments moving to orange alert from midday on Friday, September 4, and temperatures set to climb until 39C.
The departments of Ardèche, Aude, Drôme, Gard and Hérault will be placed on orange heatwave alert from 12:00, according to Météo France.
A further 10 departments are on yellow heatwave alert: Rhône, Isère, Vaucluse, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Hautes-Pyrénées, Landes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Pyrénées-Orientales.
The rest of metropolitan France is at green level, meaning no particular weather vigilance is in force.
The four-level weather warning system ranges from green, meaning no particular vigilance, to yellow (be alert), orange (be very vigilant) and red (absolute vigilance).
Temperatures set to reach 39C
Temperatures are expected to rise across the south on Friday, with highs of 32C to 37C across much of the southern half of France and locally 38C to 39C in Languedoc-Roussillon, around Toulouse and between the Gard and Ardèche.
Bordeaux and Toulouse could reach 37C, with highs of 35C in Lyon and Perpignan and 34C in Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges and Dijon. Marseille is expected to reach 30C and Nice 29C.
By contrast, temperatures will remain much lower in the north-west, with highs of around 22C near the Channel coast, rising to 24C in Lille and 29C in Paris.
Météo-France said monthly heat records are likely to be broken in some areas with the heat expected to persist until at least Sunday, and with nights remaining warm.
It is only the second time that France has implemented this level of heatwave alert in September, following an intense spell of heat in September 2023.
Hottest summer on record
It also comes after Météo-France confirmed what most people in the country had already suspected: that the summer of 2026 was the hottest since records began in 1900.
The state forecaster said that the average temperature for June, July and August reached 24C, almost 1C above the previous record set in 2003.
"Beating the record by almost 1C in a single season is huge," climatologist Françoise Vimeux told Le Monde. "Normally, records are broken by tenths of a degree."
Heatwave plans can be activated
When severe heat affects a department, local authorities can activate their heatwave plans.
These measures are designed to provide additional protection for people considered vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
They can include increased involvement from health and social-care services, opening shelters and checking on vulnerable residents.
Authorities can also contact people on heatwave registers.
