China News Agency, Paris, June 18 (Reporter Li Yang) The French local time ushered in the highest peak of this round of high temperature weather on the 18th. As many as 70 provinces in France issued high temperature warnings, and high temperature records in many places were broken.
11 provinces issued a high temperature red warning on the same day, these provinces are concentrated in the western and southwestern regions of France; another 59 provinces issued a high temperature orange warning, including all the provinces in the Paris region.
The area under heat alert already covers most of mainland France and the population.
High temperature records were broken in several places that day.
The temperature in Biarritz, a city in the Atlantic Pyrenees province in southwestern France, recorded 42.9 degrees Celsius at 4 p.m., breaking the local record of 40.6 degrees Celsius in August 2003.
Cape Sokoya in the same province recorded 42C, surpassing the July 2020 high of 40.6C.
The city of Tarbes in the Hautes-Pyrenees recorded 39.2C, breaking the previous record of 39C set in August 2003.
Areas of France hit hard by the heat have taken steps to deal with it.
The government of the southwestern province of Gironde announced that all public activities in outdoor or non-air-conditioned places will be cancelled until the end of this round of hot weather; during this period, care for the elderly and the disabled will be strengthened.
The Red Cross provides drinking water to homeless people in places like Toulouse.
The temperature in Paris on the afternoon of the 18th was close to 40 degrees Celsius, and the temperature at 8 p.m. was still 37 degrees Celsius.
Health agencies in the Paris region are advising people to suspend outdoor activities.
Pedestrians in central Paris have decreased, but many have gone to water parks, swimming pools and other places to escape the heat.
Due to the continuous high temperature, the ozone concentration in the air has increased rapidly, and the ozone concentration in the air in most parts of France has increased significantly. The air quality index of Paris and other places has deteriorated in the past two days.
In order to reduce pollution, the maximum speed of road traffic in the surrounding areas of Paris has been reduced; vehicles with high pollution emissions cannot drive in Paris on the 18th.
France's neighbors Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom all experienced high temperatures this weekend, with forest fires in northwestern Spain and drought and water shortages in northern Italy.
Meteorologists tend to believe that the main root cause of the current high temperature is "worrying climate change trends".
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