The maximum vigilance remains in place, Wednesday, August 13, for the Aude and four departments of the Rhône Valley overwhelmed by an intense heat wave which fade on the Atlantic facade but is now progressing northeast.
In the southwest, the heat wave has switched from red to orange at 6 am for nine departments, where temperatures will still remain “Very hot”according to Météo-France.
Monday and Tuesday, the thermometer has already broken several records, bordering on 43 ° C in Saint-Laurent-du-Pape (Ardèche) and Saint-Côme-d’Olet in Aveyron (42.9 ° C). For the first time, he made 37.2 ° C in the small village of Sauvages (Rhône) yet located 831 meters above sea level.
If temperatures mark “A little the step” Wednesday in the south, they will be “Light up” In the northeast, with 40 ° C points planned in Burgundy. In the capital, it will still be around 35-36 ° C, after an already hot Tuesday.
With nearly 70 departments in orange alert and five in red, only a north-west quarter remains relatively spared by the frantic excitement of Mercury, to the chagrin of those who have to work outside.
Red heat wave will remain in force until Thursday 6 hours in the five departments concerned, Météo-France announced in its last bulletin.
Wednesday, punctually strong thunderstorms are also expected from the middle of the afternoon and until the end of the evening of the Southwest in the center of the country, as well as on the Southern Alps with twelve departments placed in orange alert.
A “warmer air” than before
Red heat wave alerts have also been triggered in Italy, Portugal, Balkans or Spain, where several dozen fires are active, one of which left one dead. Thousands of people also had to be evacuated.
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“These very high temperatures result from the very hot air mass, but also from the influence of climate change”explains Lauriane Baté, climatologist at Météo-France, which gives an air “Warmer” on average that there is “A few decades”.
Temperatures equal to or greater than 40 ° C have been recorded more than 1,800 times in the past ten years in France against less than 40 times in the 1990s, according to data from weather stations analyzed by the France-Presse agency.
Free swimming pools, shelter for homeless people, open night parks, air -conditioned rooms made available to the most vulnerable: communities remain mobilized to relieve their citizens.
In the Metropolis of Lyon, a vigilance plan was activated in the EHPAD, and the outside outings canceled in the establishments that welcome children and adolescents. “The heat wave episodes also force us to rethink our urban vegetation strategy”said on Tuesday Pierre Athanaze, vice-president of the environmental metropolis, during the visit of an industrial wasteland transformed into an urban garden. “The needs to find local freshness spaces become very important, we must design suitable places”.
In Ardèche, the prefect asks event organizers to ensure “Imperatively” Public protection, subject to cancellation. In the Rhône, the demonstrations are prohibited during the day. In Aude, vigilance remains «Maximum» To avoid any reactivation of the fire which traveled 16,000 hectares before being mastered on Sunday.
In Ile-de-France, the Air Airparif observatory announces an episode of ozone pollution which could be extended until Thursday, accentuating the health risks linked to pollution.
France has undergone its 51 since Friday Fridaye Heat wave since 1947 and her second in the summer of 2025. According to Météo-France, she should continue at the end of the week with “A new scorching peak expected for the weekend of August 15”. After the heat, a risk of locally strong storms is expected in the southwest, before going up north as well as on a southeast quarter of the country, according to the forecasts of Météo-France.