The weekend will be punctuated by strong heat throughout France. Météo France has activated the orange “heat wave” alert for 23 departments in a large south-west quarter, from Anjou to the Pyrenees, not to mention a heat island in Drôme/Ardèche. This Thursday afternoon, in these departments, Météo France expects in particular 36°C to 39°C in Occitanie, New Aquitaine (except Poitou) and in the Rhône valley.
The mercury has already come close to, or even beaten, records for the end of spring: 36.2°C in Marseille, 37.4°C in Aubagne, 36°C in Toulouse… This will continue until Saturday even if the absolute record, 46°C, on June 28, 2019 in Verargues, in Hérault, should not be beaten.
“From Friday, we have a panic of mercury with 40 ° C regularly reached in the South-West and possible as far as the Loire, as in the Rhône valley”warns Olivier Proust, forecaster at Météo France, with theAFP.
Brittany should sweat like never before
It is especially in the West that the records should be linked, especially from Friday and Saturday. In Brittany, for example, you have to get ready to sweat like never before for the month of June.
On Twitter, meteorologist Stéven Tual announces “simply inconceivable” temperatures for the region: 43°C in Vitré, 42°C in Rennes, 42°C in Nantes, 41°C in Dinan, 38°C in Saint-Malo, 37°C in °C in Pontivy, 37°C in Vannes, 35°C in Lorient, 35°C in Saint-Brieuc
As a reminder, the absolute record for the month of June in Brittany was recorded in 2019 in the La Noë-Blanche meteorological station (Ille-et-Vilaine) with 36.4°C. Rennes holds the absolute record with 40.1°C recorded in July 2019.
More than 35°C on the beaches of Brittany and Normandy
More generally, a first peak in intensity is expected in the West on Friday with more than 35°C expected as far as the beaches of Brittany and Normandy and around 40°C as far as the beaches of Aquitaine and Charente Maritime.
With some 40 ° C generalized between the south of the Pays de la Loire, Poitou, Charentes, Aquitaine and the Toulouse Midi as well as more locally between Languedoc and Roussillon, many records will fall.
Read also: Health, agriculture, education… How the heat wave is disrupting the country
Absolute record expected in Nantes, Angers, Niort…
This will be the case in Nantes where the monthly record of 38.6°C (June 27, 2019) should be beaten while the absolute record dating from July 12, 1949 (40.3°C) could also be erased.
Read also: Weather report. Heat wave in Nantes: towards a temperature record?
This should also be the case in Angers with an absolute heat record, for the time being 39.8 ° C in 1947. La Roche-sur-Yon, Niort, Cognac, Poitiers, Bordeaux or even Agen could also experience temperatures never seen so far.
On Saturday, several temperature records should also fall in Paris with 38°C announced for a previous record of 37.6°C on June 26, 1947 or even in Reims, Nancy, Besançon…
Blame it on the heat feather
At the origin of these scorching temperatures, a feather of heat coming from Spain and which is deposited on France. The heat feather is “an advective heat wave (transport of hot, dry air by southerly winds), specifies Christophe Cassou, author of the sixth IPCC report. Unlike a rather static heat dome, here everything is very dynamic! »
Météo France estimates that “the heat wave thresholds could be reached in certain departments” : high heat during the day and minimum temperatures above 20°C, for three days. Nights will remain warm, especially in large cities where “the heat accumulates in the apartments”.
Read also: Peak, heat wave or heatwave: what’s the difference?
This episode should end in the night from Saturday to Sunday with the arrival of thunderstorms expected by the West. Temperatures could then drop by 15°C. Before the next heat stroke. The early heat waves that have multiplied in June for thirty years are a consequence of global warming, according to many scientists.
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