Rushes on fans, temporary fountains in cities, support for the most vulnerable: a heat wave of unprecedented precocity has started in France, with temperatures that could exceed 40 ° C in the week.
This exceptional heat wave from the Maghreb and Spain revives the memory of the heat wave of August 2003, which caused an excess mortality of 15,000 people, the vast majority of whom are elderly people.
The "orange" heatwave alert was triggered for Paris and its neighboring departments and in Seine-et-Marne, according to Météo-France, which expects other departments to move to this level on Monday.
"This is a heat wave unprecedented in its precocity for a month of June, and since 1947," said AFP Emmanuel Demael, forecaster at Météo-France. According to him, records of heat will be established for a month of June and even "locally all months combined". The hottest day will be "between Thursday and Friday ... it will reach 40 ° C or exceed locally," he said. The heatwave "should extend to the weekend, at least over a large half of the southeast," according to the forecaster.
Monday, the very high temperatures (between 35 ° C and 38 ° C) will prevail between the Loire and the valleys of the Massif Central, the Rhone valley and the Provençal hinterland, to win Tuesday the north-east, before s extend between Wednesday and Thursday over much of the west of the country.
A heat kit distributed to nurseries and schools
Urban "heat islands", Paris and Lyon will suffer particularly, marked by artificial soils, few trees and significant human activities. The City of Paris has activated the orange warning level since Sunday and announced a series of preventive measures.
It is thus possible for seniors and sick people to register, by a phone call to 3975, the file "Chalex" so that they are "contacted by phone to take their news and remind them of the preventive measures against the heat, "according to a statement from the City.
The program also includes "refreshed rooms" in public facilities, temporary fountains, misting machines, in addition to a distribution of gourds to the homeless, and the installation of fans in nurseries and schools.
Public authorities and dermatologists have reminded the need to regularly drink water, to wet the body and protect the skin, especially in small (hat, glasses, long-sleeved t-shirt, anti-UV clothing).
To avoid: alcohol, physical exertion, leaving a child alone in the car, swimming in the fresh water of a lake because of the risk of thermal shocks and of course ... do not put yourself in the open Sun.
A "heat wave kit" is distributed to nurseries and schools reminiscent of the good reflexes. The information platform "Canicule info service" will be available on 0800 06 66 66 (toll-free number) for recommendations on what to do.
Rush on equipment to cool the air
In the workplace, Minister Muriel Pénicaud, quoted by RTL, recalled "the responsibility of employers" who must "adapt schedules and equipment"
The announcement of the arrival of hot weather has caused a rush on equipment to cool the air, said several distributors to AFP.
"The first products that are most in demand are fans, air conditioners, coolers", according to the Fnac-Darty group, while Boulanger has seen sales growth of more than 400% (compared to usual) on the "air treatment category".
Airparif, the Air Quality Monitoring Association, predicts a "medium" level of pollution on Monday. "We have a significant presence of ozone but we have not reached a peak," said the association to AFP.
This hot shot is to be linked to global warming. In France, the rise in average temperatures has been 1.4 ° C since 1900.
According to the scenarios of Météo-France, "the warming could reach 2 ° C by 2071-2100" in the country, or 4 ° C for the most pessimistic. Heat waves could become two to three times more numerous by mid-century.
With AFP