The heat wave that is hitting the west of the Mediterranean basin will raise temperatures in the South and in Corsica. 40°C could be reached inland in Provence and on the Isle of Beauty, as well as in the Pyrénées-Orientales and “probably” in the Tarn and Isère, warns Météo France, which evokes a “non-exceptional heatwave episode, but the persistence of which requires particular vigilance”. “We are not necessarily going to break many records in France, but it is the fact that it will remain very high for several days in a row, day and night, which will have a great impact on the populations”, explained forecaster François Gourand. Follow our live.
Heat waves are increasing. Temperatures exceeding 40°C in Italy, even approaching 48°C in Sardinia, regions of Spain at 15°C above seasonal references, records expected in the United States… The many waves of current heat will increase further on Tuesday in parts of the northern hemisphere. In Greece, 1,200 children had to leave holiday camps threatened by fires, not far from Athens, on Monday.
Seven departments on alert. Météo France has placed seven departments on orange alert due to the heat wave. These are Alpes-Maritimes, Haute-Corse, Corse-du-Sud, Var, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Vaucluse and Pyrénées-Orientales, as well as the principality of Andorra. The heat dome should shift towards the east on Wednesday and only a few departments in the South-East should remain affected by the high temperatures.
Stronger global warming in Europe. Climate change, which makes these heat wave episodes more regular and intense, is twice as fast as the global average in Europe, experts note. And the Mediterranean countries suffer particularly. Since 2000, heat waves have been five times more frequent in France than before 1989 and they will be twice as numerous within 30 years.