Europe 1 with AFP 2:05 p.m., May 19, 2022
France has just recorded a spring heat record with a 38th consecutive day above seasonal norms.
The previous record of 37 days dated from the period April-May 2020, right in the middle of the first confinement.
An episode of heat which could well extend until Saturday.
The spring heat has just broken a record in France.
It has been 38 days in a row that temperatures have exceeded seasonal norms in the territory, thus beating the series of 37 consecutive days dating from April-May 2020, indicates Thursday Météo France.
And "with the temperatures expected at least until Saturday, this record is set to be beaten again", warns the public establishment.
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On Wednesday, the day when this series started on April 11 was exceeded, several heat records had been beaten or equaled in the south of the country.
Since the beginning of the month, the average temperature "anomaly" observed in France has reached slightly more than 3°C and Météo France considers it "very likely" that May 2022 will become the hottest month of May since the post-war period. , thus dethroning the 2011 record, which recorded an anomaly of +1.85°C.
Increased risk of drought
In a tweet, Météo France explains that the peaks are observed not only at the hottest of the day, but also at the lowest.
Thus, subject to official confirmation at the end of the day, the establishment observed Thursday morning that "the national thermal indicator of minimum temperatures could also have broken a record".
This episode of heat accentuates concerns about the risk of drought.
The government published a map on Wednesday where 22 departments appear in red, that is to say with a "very probable" risk by the end of the summer, mainly in the south-east and west.