The heat intensifies in France.

Twenty-two new departments, mostly on the Atlantic coast, have been placed on heat wave orange vigilance for Sunday due to the heat wave that is hitting the country, Météo France announced on Saturday.

This vigilance, which recommends that the inhabitants of the areas concerned be "very vigilant", concerns the following departments: Ariège, Aveyron, Cantal, Corrèze, Dordogne, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, Loire-Atlantique, Maine -et-Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Côte d'Armor, Morbihan, Finistère, Alpes-Maritimes, Hautes-Alpes, Isère, Savoie, Haute-Savoie.

Up to 41 degrees locally on Sunday

In total, 38 departments are now affected by this alert.

The weather vigilance scale has three alert levels: yellow (be attentive), orange (be very vigilant) and red (absolute vigilance).

The episode of strong heat, which should last at least until the beginning of next week, mainly concerns for the moment Aquitaine, Occitanie, the Rhône valley and Provence with maximums between 35 and 39 degrees, see 40 degrees locally.

On Sunday, the highs in these regions are expected to reach between 35 and 40 degrees with temperatures reaching 41 degrees locally in the South West.

"The strong heat will also extend to the northwest," says Météo-France.

In Brittany, it will often be 34-35 degrees or more and the night cooling will be less than the previous days.

Extreme heat for the first time in the UK

The mercury should exceed 30 degrees throughout the territory "except on the edge of the Channel and near the northern borders", indicates Météo-France.

The current heat wave affects all of Western Europe, causing forest fires such as in the southwest of France, Spain or Portugal.

In the UK, the Meteorological Agency has issued the first-ever 'extreme heat red' alert in the country's history.

Temperatures could exceed 40 degrees there, a first since the start of weather measurements.

The last heat wave for the month of July dates back to 2019 and was exceptionally intense with average temperature records.

France had thus experienced its hottest day since the start of measurements with 29.4 ° C on July 25 (tied with August 5, 2003), as well as its hottest night, with an average of 21.4 ° C, the night of July 24-25.

Planet

Western Europe hit by wildfires and heatwave

Company

Heat wave and fires: The south of France put to the test before a high-risk weekend

  • Planet

  • Heat wave

  • Weather report

  • Meteo France

  • Heat