Mercury panics. The heat wave that France is experiencing is exceptionally early and intense. Since the start of this episode of very hot weather, monthly heat records have been broken in around ten cities, Météo France announced on Friday June 17. These are records on the main network of Météo France measurement stations, with at least thirty years of data.
The monthly records recorded on Friday are as follows: 40.4°C in Carcassonne (Aude) while the previous record (39.8°C) dated from June 2003, 38.8°C in Narbonne (Aude) while the previous record (38.5°C) dated in June 2019, 37.3°C in Millau (Aveyron) whose previous record (36.8°C) dated from June 2019, 38.9°C in Cognac (Charente) while the previous record (38.2°C) C) dates back to June 1952, 40°C in Saintes (Charente-Maritime) where the previous record (39.1°C) dated from June 1950. We can also mention the 38.2°C recorded in Bergerac (Dordogne) whose the previous record (38.2°C) dates from 2011.
Further north, it was 34.9°C in Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor) where the previous record (33.6°C) dates back to June 2015. In the same department, in Quintenic, it was 36.7°C, greatly exceeding the previous record (33.4°C) of 2019. It was also hot in Dinard (Ille-et-Vilaine) where the 35.5°C recorded broke the 2019 record (33.8°C). In Martys (Aude), it was 33.5°C, equaling a June 2003 record. In Montaut (Ariège), Météo France recorded 38.6°C beating the previous record (38°C) of June 2019.
Minimum temperature records, all months combined, have also been recorded, underlines Météo France. The Tarascon station (Bouches-du-Rhône) experienced its hottest night, between Thursday and Friday: 26.8°C, beating a record (25.7°C) of 2019. This is a absolute record of minimum temperatures for this station, insists the forecaster.
In the same department, a monthly minimum temperature record was also broken in Arles: 23.9°C, i.e. 0.1°C above the previous record of 2008.