France is “very likely” experiencing the driest month of July since records began in 1959

An intense and long heat wave, fires that multiply and last, especially in Gironde… The month of July 2022 will have been marked by extreme weather conditions in France. Unsurprisingly, Météo France revealed on Tuesday 26 July that it would be “most likely the driest month of July” never measured since the beginning of the surveys cconcerning soil droughtsin 1959.

“On average over France, eight millimeters of precipitation fell from July 1 to 25”that is “a huge rainfall deficit”explains to AFP Christian Veil, climatologist at Météo France. “We should be the first or second driest month of July”, he continues. Everything will depend on the last days of the month, with light rain expected on Friday.

So far, the driest July ever recorded since the start of Météo France measurements is that of 2020, with 16 millimeters of cumulative rain.

This lack of rain aggravates the drought that was already affecting France at the start of the summer. Tuesday, 91 departments were affected by restrictions on the use of water, unheard of. Alert levels are listed on the Propluvia website.

A situation that has consequences for the entire environment: “Summer precipitation serves to maintain the humidity of surface soils, to maintain vegetation”explains Christian Veil, who notably observes “trees that suffer so much from the heat that they lose their leaves”.