The heat wave episode continues on Saturday in southern Europe, in particular in France with risks of multiplied fires.
• Read also: New heat peaks expected in Europe, with “severe” fire risks in France
The phenomenon promises to be even more severe on Sunday in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
In France, Sunday and Monday, the thermometer will display at least 35 ° C on two thirds of the country, promising “very unpleasant” nights during which Mercury should not descend below 20 degrees, according to Tristan AMM, forecaster at Météo-France.
The phenomenon strikes the south of the country on Saturday for the second consecutive day, before an extension to the north, causing in particular risks of multiplied fire. He must last at least until Tuesday.
Météo-France expects temperatures to reach 34 to 38 ° C on Saturday afternoon on the departments concerned by orange vigilance, and that they “punctually 40 ° C near the Mediterranean”.
The cause of this new peak is in France a “heat dome”: a large and powerful anticyclone forms a kind of cover that blocks air in low layers, preventing the entrance to disturbances, while gradually warming it.
In Marseille (South), the town hall announced free municipal swimming pools and published a mapping of public places with air conditioning.
The city of Nice (South) said that nearly 250 portable fans “have been delivered in the past two weeks” to schools and that a distribution of fans for isolated elderly has been set up.
In Italy, 17 cities are placed on a red alert (level 3) on Saturday, both in the North, as in Milan, Bologna and Turin, as in the South, especially in Naples and Palermo, with temperature peaks expected at 39 ° C.
“I try not to think about it”
The heat wave will strike even stronger on Sunday, with 21 cities placed on a red alert.
Certain regions, such as Liguria and Sicily, have issued orders prohibiting outdoor work during the most risky time slots and unions are mobilizing to extend this implementation in other regions.
The heat has increased an increase in the number of calls for rescue in the last week, the ANSA agency reported.
In Rome, the thermometer already displayed 30 ° C at 10 a.m. (8 h GMT) and temperatures should reach up to 37 ° C, depending on the forecast.
On Saturday, the many tourists visiting the eternal city are trying somehow to protect themselves from the heat, with hats, masks and sunscreen or by quenching in one of the public fountains.
“I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and I never remain motionless, because it is at this point that we catch an insolation,” said Venice Sriane Minà, Italian student on Friday at AFPTV.
In Spain, several regions are on orange alert on Saturday due to the high temperatures which could result from the first heat wave of summer, up to 42 ° C in certain areas, according to the Spanish state agency (AEMET).
The worst episode is expected for Sunday and, with greater uncertainty, for Monday, when thermometers could exceed 40 ° C in the southwest of the country and in certain areas of the northeast.
“We expect temperatures to exceed 42 ° C in the Guadalquivir, Guadiana and Tagus area, without excluding the Ebro,” said Aemet.
The strong feeling of heat also contributes to the fact that the maritime waters of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands “exceed 26 ° C: a record figure for these dates, typical of mid-August”, underlined Aemet in his account X.
The last three years have already been in the warmest in Spain in its history.
In Portugal, two thirds of the country will be on orange alert on Sunday, with 42 ° C provided for in Lisbon and a maximum risk of fire.
