France experienced an important storm episode this Wednesday, on the 7th day of an early national heat wave where the 40 ° C mark was again crossed. Violent thunderstorms that have had many material consequences on the one hand, but also human since two people died there.
The first is a 12-year-old adolescent who was killed by a tree carried by a burst of wind, in Picquebos, in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, said the director of cabinet of the Tarn-et-Garonne prefect, Bénédicte Martineau, who has not provided other details.
The second victim is a 59 -year -old man. He led a quad, on the side of Mayenne, when he struck a tree fallen on the road during a thunderstorm, according to the firefighters.
Paris flooded
In the Paris region, 109 km/h winds were recorded “on Le Bourget station”, according to Météo France. In Paris and in the Hautes-de-Seine mainly, the firefighters intervened about forty times to free up trees or branches that have fallen on the roads, said the Paris firefighters (BSPP), specifying that the episode has “neither victims nor injured for the moment”.
Traffic was also disrupted on RER B and D and access to some metro stations were closed due to floods, according to SNCF and RATP. On social networks, the impressive videos of the floods are increasing.
Thunderstorms have had an impact on the electrical network and power outages can take place “sporadically on the territory, in the layout of the storm,” a spokesman for the Enedis electrical network manager told AFP.
Heat wave
This Wednesday, the symbolic bar of 40 ° C was exceeded in several cities in the Pyrénées-Orientales and touched in Clermont-Ferrand (39.8 ° C). The 40 ° C had already been reached Tuesday in Hérault, for the first time of the year in France.
France has been crossed since June 19 by its 50th wave of national heat since 1947, half of which were suffered in the 21st century, a consequence of global warming which increases the intensity and frequency of heat waves.
A return to lower temperatures
According to Météo France, “the minimums Thursday morning will remain tropical, of the order of 20 to 22 ° C on the agglomerations of Lyon and Grenoble”, synonymous with difficult sleep and recovery difficulties for organizations subject to heat wave.
“However, during Thursday, a very significant drop in the maximum is expected, with a return to temperatures close to 30 ° C,” adds the meteorological service.
