3rd heat wave in France triggers drought alert

PARIS

Heat wave continues to scorch most parts of France, with temperatures rising over 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), the country’s meteorological service said on Wednesday.

This is the third instance of the heatwave since June.

As of 4 p.m. local time, Paris, Lyon, Tours, Clermont-Ferrand, Nancy, Limoges, Nantes, and Strasbourg recorded 34-36 degrees Celsius (93-97 Fahrenheit). Bordeaux and Toulouse in the southwest saw the highest temperatures at 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).

In view of the rising temperatures, 26 departments are placed on “orange” alert and 42 departments on “yellow” alert, where citizens are advised to maintain vigilance while stepping outside.

Thursday will bring some respite from the heat wave with showers and cloud cover in the north and the east, according to Meteo-France. 

In a report, the weather bureau said the intense heat wave in July made it one of the driest months in over six decades.

“July 2022 is the driest month over the period 1959-2022 at the national level. It is the second driest month for all months combined behind March 1961, which had an almost 90% deficit rainfall,” said the report published on Tuesday.

Almost all the departments across the country are affected by drought vigilance requiring water restrictions, according to the Environment Ministry. Nearly 60 departments have been placed on ‘crisis’ level, meaning they have to stop non-priority water withdrawals, including for agricultural purposes and can only have withdrawals for priority uses such as health, civil security, drinking water and sanitation.

The capital city of Paris, and the surrounding suburbs of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne in the Ile-de-France region, have been placed on an "orange" drought alert involving reduced withdrawals for agricultural purposes, and greater restrictions on withdrawals for watering gardens, green spaces, golf courses, car wash etc.