Unprecedented temperatures are still expected for Thursday in France, where the heat is intensifying, according to Météo-France. Nineteen departments are kept in heatwave red vigilance on a diagonal going from Gers to Ain.
Many temperatures will be between 39 and 42 ° C in the departments placed in red vigilance. Temperatures will exceed the highest levels on record in Narbonne and Carcassonne, where 42°C are expected, and in Toulouse-Blagnac, where it will be 41°C. In Moulés-et-Baucels, in the Hérault, it will be 43°C. This heat episode is described by Météo-France as “intense” and “sustainable”, even “exceptional” in certain localities.
Météo-France also announces the passage to orange vigilance for thunderstorms in several departments in Hauts-de-France, Île-de-France, Normandy, Centre-Val de Loire and Pays-de-la-Loire. .
Tuesday afternoon, fifteen departments had been added by Météo-France to the four already placed on red vigilance – Ardèche, Drôme, Haute-Loire and Rhône – which brought the total number of departments on maximum alert to nineteen. These are Ain, Loire, Isère, Lozère, Gard, Vaucluse, Hérault, Aveyron, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, ‘Aude, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Haute-Garonne and Gers. An “already remarkable” temperature of 43°C was measured in Puy-Saint-Martin, in Drôme, while it was 42.7°C in Orange, in Vaucluse.
Wednesday morning at 5 a.m., the temperatures were already very high with 24.9 ° C in Lyon-Bron, 24.8 ° C in Toulouse-Blagnac, 28 ° C in Narbonne and 30.9 ° C in Menton.
“A long-lasting and intense heat wave has settled over the southern two-thirds of the country. It is of a remarkable, even exceptional nature, already in the Rhône Valley and in the south of the Massif Central, then gradually in Occitania and as far as the west of Aquitaine tomorrow, ”notes Météo-France. Maximum temperatures will reach 40 to 42 ° C, or even more locally, with probable records, warns the meteorological service.
“The heat wave peak is expected between [Wednesday] and Thursday”, according to the forecasting body, which adds that vigilance in certain departments, “especially in the south of New Aquitaine”, could increase in the face of the duration and the intensity of the heat wave. “Across France, this is the first time that such an intense heat wave has been observed so late in the summer,” adds Météo-France.
Tuesday was the hottest day on record in France after August 15, with a “national thermal indicator” of 27.1°C, Météo-France announced, as the peak of the heat wave hitting the country is expected for Wednesday or Thursday – already on Monday the record was broken with 26.63°C. This value has only been reached or exceeded twenty-four times in France since 1947, mainly in the last twenty years, but never so late, specifies the public establishment.
Differentiated traffic in Marseille
As a result of this heat wave, air quality has deteriorated in Marseille, where differentiated traffic will be put in place on Wednesday. The most polluting vehicles will not be able to drive in the city center, the prefecture announced on Tuesday.
“Differentiated traffic is in place from Wednesday, August 23, 2023” at 6 a.m. and “until further notice,” she said in a statement. Only vehicles with green Crit’Air stickers or displaying 1 to 3 will be able to circulate within the perimeter concerned by this measure, i.e. most of the center of the second largest city in France.
Due to rising ozone concentrations in the air, four departments in the South-East – Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes – went on level 2 alert on Wednesday, corresponding to a “reinforced vigilance for all public”.
“The implementation of differentiated traffic is accompanied by emergency measures” aimed at “reducing pollutant emissions”, recalls the prefecture, which cites the reduction of 20 kilometers per hour in traffic speed on all the roads of the department (without however going below 70 kilometers per hour) and the electrical connection to the quay of ships “within the limits of the available installations”.
According to Météo-France, if the peak should be reached by Thursday, the end of the heat wave episode remains uncertain, with a risk of “potentially marked” thunderstorms. According to Météo-France, the decline will begin from the west on Friday.
Only a last northern quarter is still spared by the heat wave. From Brittany and north of the Loire to the Benelux, the minimums will range from 13 to 18 ° C in general. In the afternoon, the thermometer will show between 28 and 34°C.
