Heat wave: what to expect this week in France?

The departments of Ain, Rhône, Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, placed on heatwave orange vigilance by Météo-France, are already experiencing a major heat wave at the start of the week. A phenomenon which will become widespread in France from this Friday, August 18 and which is likely to extend throughout next week, warns Guillaume Séchet, meteorologist and founder of the weather-city site, in Le Parisien.

The next few days are therefore likely to be “suffocating”, according to the specialist. And for good reason: “At the beginning of next week, it is possible that we will reach 35 degrees in three quarters of the country”, he specifies. And the worst day of this summer’s biggest heat wave is expected on Tuesday, August 22. The mercury could climb to 38 in Lyon, Grenoble and Toulouse.

Only the North-West will escape this heat wave a little. On average, it will be 25 degrees in Brittany and Normandy, and up to 15 degrees at night.

These significant heats come from northern Africa, where temperatures are abnormally high. Agadir, in Morocco, even broke its record with a reading of 50.4 degrees last Thursday. “The heat dome currently located in North Africa and Spain will intensify and expand in the coming days,” continues the meteorologist.

And if the Northwest is not affected by this heat dome, it is thanks to a powerful ocean current.

“It is difficult to predict exactly what will happen, because there are many dynamics observed”, warns Guillaume Séchet, who expects a decrease in the heat dome, and therefore in temperatures, from the end of next week. “We can go all out because there is a good chance that the ocean current will take over.”

But this heat wave is not specific to France. The entire Mediterranean region is affected by this heat dome. In Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, Spain or Italy too, the thermometers are panicking. For the meteorologist, the duration of this phenomenon is “abnormal”. Because since the beginning of the summer, the mercury has not gone down in North Africa. A direct consequence of “global warming”, he concludes.