Thirteen departments in south of France placed on 'orange' heatwave alerts this Saturday
Hot weather warnings look set to increase over the coming days
The current heat wave will affect areas of southern France
Marc Bruxelle/Shutterstock
France’s state weather agency, Météo France, has issued a heatwave alert for four departments in the south for Friday, June 27.
There will be a “rise in temperatures, starting in the south-east of the country” it said in a bulletin on Thursday afternoon.
The alert covers the departments of Pyrénées-Orientales, Hérault, Gard, and Bouches-du-Rhône.
An orange alert warns residents to “be very careful”
Several other departments are under a yellow alert, which advises people to “be careful”.
They are: Aude, Ardèche, Rhône, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Vaucluse, Drôme and Haute-Corse.
The number of departments set to see tier-three orange alerts will rise to 13 on Saturday (June 28).
Read more: Heatwave in France: will summer temperatures remain higher than usual?
The heatwave is forecast to start from midday on Friday, with high temperatures of between 35C and 38C around the Mediterranean, Météo France said. Temperatures could reach 39C “or even higher” inland.
Overnight between Friday and Saturday will be “very hot and stifling”, while high temperatures on Saturday will reach 37-39C, it said.
More orange alerts for heatwaves are “likely” in the Mediterranean region over the next few days, the weather agency added.
It comes after violent storms swept across much of the country on Wednesday, leaving two people dead.
Read more: Violent storms leave two dead in France
