Heatwave: 41°C in places… We tell you all about the intense heat wave that is starting

hot ahead A heat dome is settling over France until the middle of next week. During this rather late heat wave, temperatures will increase, especially in the South

The heat wave will intensify until the middle of next week. Drawing. — Patrick Siccoli

• Possible peaks at 41°C in the shade in the South, a mercury that will climb a little more each day. France is facing the most intense heat episode of the summer.
• It is not so common to reach such temperatures after August 15 and records could again be broken .
• 20 Minutes takes stock as the phenomenon should peak on Tuesday and then fade from Thursday.

If you still have a few days of vacation left, try spending them in Brittany or on the Channel coast. Because elsewhere in France – and more particularly to the south of a line running from the Gironde estuary to Alsace – the most intense heat wave of the summer is looming. with the arrival of a heat dome, in other words “a vast area of ​​high pressure at all floors of the atmosphere” which, a little to the image of a water pump; bike, “traps air already hot and warms it further by compression”.

The temperature will increase over the weekend to reach a peak of intensity. early next week, Monday or more likely Tuesday. Twelve new departments are switching to heat wave orange vigilance as of this Friday, in addition to the seven which were already suffocating. And 21 others will be on heat wave yellow vigilance. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has activated Thursday afternoon an interministerial crisis unit.

What temperatures can you expect?

This Thursday, the mercury has already reached 33 & 36 °C in the Southwest plains, 34 °C; 37°C in the interior of Provence and temperatures remained “reasonably” less than 30 °C in the North. “But on Friday, the heat will rise further north and will increase significantly in the south, explains Christelle Robert, forecaster at Edmonton. Weather-France. In the South-West, but also in the Rhône valley and Provence, values ​​of 34/37°C are expected, locally 38 °C”. Alsace should also suffocate. On Saturday, an additional step will be taken in Provence with peaks expected at 39 °C.

⚠️🌡️ Fortes #chaleurs
En cette fin de semaine, températures mini et maxi montent d'un cran (seules côtes de Manche et Bretagne conserveront des T°C max. < à 30°C).

Voici les températures max. attendues jusqu'à dimanche ⤵️

🟠#vigilanceorange #canicule
👉https://t.co/w5OGXbEEhP https://t.co/JUhbf3gCaU pic.twitter.com/tsZwE2UToW

— Météo-France (@meteofrance) August 17, 2023

The access to this content has been blocked in order to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on « I‘ACCEPT», you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I ACCEPT

pay 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our “I accept for today” button in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.

Everything will go crescendo on Sunday, whereù the heat will push to its horn again towards the north and northeast and trigger a real furnace in the South: the 40 ° the shadow could be reached at both in the South-West, in Languedoc-Roussillon and in the south of Provence with possible peaks at; 41°C. “The peak of this episode is expected between Monday and Wednesday,” said the specialist, who is counting on a refreshing stormy degradation on Thursday, still in the cold. confirm.

Is it exceptional?

The heat wave in the middle of August, nothing new under the sun will say the most pragmatic. And yet, such an episode, so intense, is not so frequent. August 15th. “Since 1947, there have been 46 observed heat waves of which 10 have started. during a month of August and among them six after a 15 August”t”, indicates Lauriane Batté, climatologist at Weather-France. These six late episodes all took place in the 21st century. In 2001, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. But the trend does not surprise scientists at all in the context of global warming with models that predict that the number of waves of summer heat could be multiplied; by nine by 2100.

The 2012 record could fall

The standard thermometer used in France is “the national thermal indicator”, an average of temperatures at 30 representative stations spread across the country. It reached its maximum after an August 15, i.e. 26.4 °C on August 19, 2012. “According to the latest forecasts, the indicator could reach more of 27°C during the day on Tuesday, which would constitute an unprecedented heat value for the end of summer. meteorological situation,” underlines Météo-France. Roll on next Thursday.

Which number to call for advice?

The Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, and the Minister of Solidarity, Aurore Bergé, announced this Thursday evening activate from tomorrow, Friday, the toll-free number regularly activated; during very hot weather Heatwave Info service: 0800 06 66 66. The number can be reached free of charge from 9 a.m. 19 hours. This dedicated number “ provides advice on how to protect yourself and those around you, especially the most vulnerable, and how to adopt the right reflexes », according to the Ministries of Health and Solidarities. Prevention messages will be broadcast to TV and at radio.

Je crains toujours le syndrome « Pierre et le loup » en matière de prévention. Nous ne déclenchons jamais les alertes à la légère. La canicule prévue dans les jours à venir va être inhabituelle par sa durée et son intensité. Adaptons tous nos comportements en conséquence. https://t.co/gLndrLeZTf

— Aurélien Rousseau (@aur_rousseau) August 17, 2023

L&lsquo ;access to; this content has been blocked in order to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on « I‘ACCEPT», you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I ACCEPT

pay 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our “I accept for today” button in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.

“ We must collectively be extremely vigilant in the face of this episode of heat wave, which arrives later this summer; and which promises to be the hottest of the summer season », has, for its part, underlined; the minister in a statement, adding that « protecting the most vulnerable concerns us all ».

Potential drops in nuclear production

EDF plans to reduce production at its Bugey (Ain) and Tricastin (Drôme) nuclear power plants from Saturday and Sunday respectively. “ Due to forecasts of high temperatures on the Rhône, production restrictions are likely to affect the Bugey nuclear production site in Paris. from August 19, 2023 », indicates EDF in the legal information published on its website. The same type of message is broadcast. for the Tricastin « to from August 20 ».

Our dossier on the heat wave

The Bugey power plant, which has 4 reactors of 900 MW each, had already was the subject of messages of this type in July. By mid-July, high temperatures had led to shutting down the Bugey 3 reactor, for cumulative reasons of « environmental constraints and low electricity demand; », according to a spokesperson. And as a reminder, the activity power stations, which pump water from adjacent rivers (or the sea, if applicable) to cool it before discharging it hotter into the environment, is framed by water weirs. heating and flow rate of these rivers at do not exceed. These thresholds are specific to; each plant and aim to protect the fauna and flora.