Welcome reprieve from heatwave
Just 16 departments left on orange alert and canicule should end mid-week although high temperatures still ahead
AS THE heatwave starts to clear from France - with just 16 departments still on orange alert in the east and south east - it is a welcome reprieve for the emergency services who have seen a 160% increase in calls.
However, no deaths have so far been reported although several cases of heatstroke have been reported, mostly among old people.
This morning Amiens and Le Havre woke up to temperatures as low as 15C but temperatures in the south-west this afternoon could hit 37/38C in Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne.
Météo France said the heatwave would be finished by Wednesday and today would see a return to calmer times with “sunny weather and lower temperatures in the north, more bearable weather in the north-east and summery in the south”.
The orange alert continues in Auvergne and Rhone-Alpes regions plus Corrèze (19), Saône-et-Loire (71), Tarn (81) and Tarn-et-Garonne (82).
Eastern departments saw temperatures yesterday hit 37.7C in Strasbourg (38.3C on Saturday, beating a record since 1952) and 36.9C in Dijon, but they will be generally lower today while still seeing maximums of up to 38C locally.
Emergency services have been under pressure in the north-east while police and pompiers have had to deal with people vandalising fire hydrants to create impromptu “showers”.
Canicule: des bouches à incendie ouvertes pour remplir des piscines "sauvages"
http://t.co/9jpty7zCFr pic.twitter.com/MZ5cfKePen— BFMTV (@BFMTV) July 4, 2015
The Samu emergency ambulances said they had seen calls up 160%, mostly for people in difficulty because of the heat. Metz A&E said it had had two cases of heatstroke at 42C but most other patients had been dealt with at home.
In Paris the pompiers were forced to issue an appeal to people to call the 18 or 112 numbers only in emergency as they had received 16,000 calls over the night of July 3-4 where there was no risk to life – wasted calls which had swamped their call centre.
Young people forcing open fire hydrants caused a problem in many Paris suburbs with 300 being reported in Seine-Saint-Denis alone with others in Asnières, Pantin and Aubervilliers and extending as far as Lille and Dijon.
Mayors were forced to issue orders banning the opening of hydrants (with the threat of €9,000 fines) but in La Ricamarie, near Saint-Étienne, the situation turned violent when pompiers were attacked as they tried to turn off the flow. Police had to use teargas to regain control. A mairie vehicle was set alight.
In Aubervilliers the mairie said opening the hydrants wasted thousands of cubic metres of water and was worsened as only pompiers and the water company could switch them off. It said the pompiers were already stretched dealing with heatwave related calls and water firm Veolia was slow to react.
Screengrab: BFMtv
Les bouches incendie reconverties en jeux d’eau ont créé la polémique #BestOfDeLaSemaine http://t.co/mrZHicYr81 pic.twitter.com/JB2GASBh6i— 20 Minutes (@20Minutes) July 4, 2015
Canicule : l'usage sauvage des bouches d'incendie gagne l'Île-de-France et le Nord http://t.co/BKy0tsFmTb pic.twitter.com/CJsvJnOLMo— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) July 4, 2015
#Dijon : des bouches d’incendie pour remplir des piscines… http://t.co/scNHJDOUx9 pic.twitter.com/kalFZyml2f— Lebienpublic (@Lebienpublic) July 4, 2015
Tt les petits cons qui Pétent les Bouches d'incendie pour gâcher l'eau.Faut les Renvoyer Là où C Chaud #canicule pic.twitter.com/1oxjLBKxPx— PatrickCroquet (@PCroquet) July 3, 2015
