France: new peak of heat and accentuation of the drought

Lac des Brenets dry in the Doubs in July 2022 (Jura mountains between France and Switzerland).

© AFP/Fabrice Coffrini

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

New peak of heat in France this Friday August 12: 35° are expected in the Paris region and up to 40° in the South-West.

The summer of 2022 is considered one of the driest since 1976 and will certainly not be the last. 

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This is the third heat wave of the year.

Thirteen days now that France is suffocating.

It is a new episode slightly less hot but which drags in length.

Overall, July 2022 will have been the month of all records. 

In Nantes, in the west of the country, the 2021 weather report announced to holidaymakers a temperature of 29 degrees with a light wind.

At the same period in 2022, the thermometer showed 42°, unheard of in this city of Loire-Atlantique.

An endless summer 

River levels are historically low.

A total of 93 departments out of 96 are subject to water restrictions and nearly 50,000 hectares have gone up in smoke according to European satellite data.

And summer isn't over yet.

Meteorologists are unanimous: a tangible consequence of climate change, these heat waves will multiply.

In the years to come, the number of deaths linked to heat stress - when the human body can no longer manage to maintain a normal temperature - may even double.

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