It was over 32°C in Bordeaux and 33°C in Toulouse on Sunday, while the mercury is expected to rise further on Monday.
Autumn has begun, but summer persists: after already historic heat in September, France recorded unprecedented temperatures for the month of October on Sunday October 1, before a peak on Monday, according to Météo-France. More than 30°C over a large part of the country, particularly in the south-west of France… The mercury rose on Sunday to levels never recorded for the tenth month of the year, a symbol of climate change which multiplies extreme and late phenomena.
At the hottest time of the day on Sunday, several records were broken, such as 31°C in Aix-en-Provence, 31.2°C in Poitiers, 32°C in Brive, 32.5°C in Bordeaux or 33 °C in Toulouse, according to provisional values from Météo-France.
In the Massif Central, Aurillac saw its heat record in October re-evaluated by 4 degrees, to 31.2°C, compared to 26.6°C previously. And the temperature reached 34.4°C in Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
In Béarn, 36°C degrees on Monday?
“It’s not even Indian summer, it’s still summer!”summarized Olivier Proust, Météo-France forecaster, for AFP. “This reshuffles the cards for the climatology of the month of October in the southwest” from France. In fact, some maximums exceeded seasonal norms by more than 10 degrees, forcing populations to adapt.
On Monday, a new surge in the thermometer is expected with 32 to 34 degrees in the center and southwest of the country, and locally 35 to 36 in Béarn, and an extension of these high temperatures to Burgundy and the Grand Est. Only the edges of the Channel are below 25 degrees, according to Météo-France, which expects certain records set on Sunday to be broken again on Monday. The national heat record for a month of October, held by Ajaccio with 35 degrees in 1988 and, on the continent, by Dax with 34.7 degrees in 1985, could be erased, perhaps even as soon as Sunday’s values consolidate .