“never seen” with 84 departments in orange alertness

Of “Never seen”: 84 departments are placed in orange alert heat wave on Monday with temperatures that can exceed 40 degrees locally, a heat wave called to last at least until the middle of the week.

Schools, companies and individuals are called to the greatest vigilance in front of a thermometer which will display more than 34 degrees throughout France, with the exception of the edges of the Channel and near the Belgian and German borders, according to Météo France.

Such a geographic extension, “It’s unheard of”said the Minister of Ecological Transition on Sunday evening, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

A previous record for the number of departments placed in orange heat wave dated from July 23, 2019 with 81 departments (80 for the heat wave, 1 for thunderstorms), she said.

As of Sunday, the heat was sufficient on a large part of France, with maximum temperatures located between 35 ° C and 38 ° C in the south of the country and reaching up to 40 ° C on the Mediterranean South, according to the national meteorological organization.

This scorching episode « intense » will therefore receive Monday 84 departments in orange alert, against 73 Sunday, before “Paroxysm” of the episode expected for Tuesday and Wednesday, with points at 41 degrees and “Very high minimums, between 20 and 24 ° C or even a little more very locally”specifies Météo France.

200 closed schools

An interministerial crisis meeting was held on Sunday evening in Beauvau, in order to “Iron all instructions” especially in terms of ” health “according to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

At its end, companies were called to “Protect employees” And to adapt their schedules by the Minister of Labor Catherine Vautrin.

The Minister of Education Elisabeth Borne recalled the measures to be taken in schools during hot weather, which can go as far as permission to keep children at home.

Some 200 public schools, out of 45,000, will be partially or total on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. “We will make sure that there is a welcome for families who need it”she said.

This 50th national heat wave identified since 1947, the 33rd of the 21st century, is part of a context of global warming which increases the intensity and frequency of heat waves.

In addition to the health of the French, it impacts the environment: 25 departments were a vigilance for drought on Sunday and 10 in terms of crisis, resulting in significant restrictions on uses.

This context is conducive to fire departures: in the Aude, where the temperature has sometimes exceeded 40 ° C, a fire broke out on Sunday in the Corbières massif due to a poorly extinct barbecue, said Retailleau.

“An oven”

The French try as they can escape the furnace. On Sunday, they massaged near the water points. North of Bordeaux, Evan Bernard had settled with his 18 -month -old son in the shade under the pines, near a lake. “With us, in the apartment, it is simply a hell. We live in the dark, it’s an oven ”he told AFP.

In Lyon, some 250 people lent themselves to a “Derivative swim” In the Rhône, a first organized by the environmental town hall.

This heat wave concerns all southern Europe, from Italy to Portugal, several regions are on red alert where up to 45 ° C could be reached. In Spain, where he made up to 46 ° C on Saturday in El Granado (southwest), temperatures should still exceed 40 ° C in a large part of the country.

The Spanish Interior Ministry also recalled that high temperatures have an impact on gender violence, and ordered the police to strengthen the protection of vulnerable women until the end of the summer.

The cause of this new peak is a dome of heat: a large and powerful anticyclone forms a kind of cover that blocks the air in low layers, preventing the entrance to disturbances while gradually warming it.

In France, the tighter towl number has been reactivated. Town halls and prefectures also multiply the recommendations for the most vulnerable audiences.