The mercury hovered around 50 degrees in Tunisia on Monday, 6 to 10 degrees above normal for the season, which caused power outages and forced many residents to seek refuge on the coast or beaches, even at night.
In neighboring Algeria, the authorities were also on alert, with peaks of up to 48 degrees locally in five eastern prefectures: Jijel, Skikda, Annaba, El Tarf and Guelma, placed in “orange vigilance”.
In both countries, violent fires have been recorded amid overheated vegetation deprived of water for weeks.
In Algeria, fires in the north and east left 15 dead and 26 injured overnight from Sunday to Monday, and made it necessary to evacuate 1,500 people.
In Tunisia, in an area bordering Algeria, near Tabarka, in the northwest, fires have restarted, fanned by strong gusts of wind and scorching temperatures. At least 300 people were evacuated by sea from the village of Melloula, already the victim of a serious fire during the week, and others by land.
On Monday, in downtown Tunis, the temperature soared to a peak of 49 degrees in the shade.
A screen on Avenue Bourguiba, the central axis of the capital, even showed 56 degrees in the sun at midday. Rare were the passers-by encountered by AFP.
Aida Cherif, 56, had no choice: “I have a doctor’s appointment so I had to go out but with my bottle of water,” said this Tunisian.
“I usually do my shopping early in the morning. […] Then I lock myself in my house,” she added.
Others take the situation with more phlegm. Elyes Nafti, 18, is going to the beach. “We will put ourselves under an umbrella and we will return at the end of the afternoon when the temperatures drop. It is hot in the Medina (the historic city center). We are going to freshen up a bit, settle down and have a good time”.
Breakdowns due to air conditioning
These abnormally high temperatures for the month of July have caused power cuts in recent days. The public company Steg explained that it had decided to preserve the performance of the network. These load shedding takes place for half an hour to an hour, in particular at times of high consumption.
On July 10, a record electricity consumption was reached at 4,692 megawatts, due to intensive use of air conditioning.
Tunisians from working-class neighborhoods, often without air conditioning, come in the evening to sleep in tents on the beaches of Carthage or La Marsa, north of Tunis.
On social networks, many Tunisians are ironic about the heat peak expected on Monday, comparing Tunisia to a “kanoun”, a traditional brazier.
Others have posted prayers for the heat wave that has lasted more than two weeks to end.
In Algeria, plunged into an “unprecedented heat wave”, the public energy group Sonelgaz said it recorded a peak in consumption of 18,697 megawatts on Sunday. Air conditioners have become overpriced (more than 500 euros against 300 previously) or impossible to find.
Elsewhere in the Maghreb, Morocco and Libya, temperatures were more in line with seasonal norms.