Europe heatwave: France braces for another day of sweltering heat
The forecaster said that as of 05:00 local time, a temperature of 29 degrees was recorded in La Rochelle in the southwest, and the highest temperature in the region later in the day was likely to be 43 degrees.
High temperatures of 39 to 40 degrees are expected across much of the west of the country, from Paris to Brittany, and are expected to remain around the same levels through the weekend.
Temperatures peaked on Tuesday, rising to 44.3C in parts of the Landes in the southwest.
The temperature is expected to decrease slightly starting from Friday, and temperatures are expected to decrease gradually over the weekend. This change will come with thunderstorms and bring the risk of flash floods and large hail.
Speaking to French radio, Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said, “We are in the process of understanding that we have become a warm country.”
The heat caused the country’s first major power outage, leaving about 68,000 homes in the northwestern Finistère region without power on Tuesday evening due to a problem with the transformer, officials said. Electricity is not expected to be restored to everyone until the end of Wednesday at the earliest.
Elsewhere in Maine and the Loire region, more than 150 firefighters were deployed to fight a massive fire in the Breignon forest in Saint-Macaire-du-Bois on Tuesday. Officials said the situation was brought under control overnight.
Touristic places in Paris, the capital of France, were also affected by the hot weather.
Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, announced that its closing time has been brought forward from Wednesday to Saturday from 18:00 to 16:00 local time.
The Louvre said its historic building was “fragile, external and poorly adapted to climate change”, adding that “heat accumulation is highest at the end of the day and is further increased by the density of visitors”.
Among those who died due to the heat wave in France was a 13-year-old girl who went swimming with her family in the Seine River in Fontaine-La Port on Sunday evening, even though she could not swim.
Many drowning cases have also been reported in Germany.
While Spain has been experiencing scorching heat for the last few days, temperatures are expected to start dropping in the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday.
But forecaster Aemet said red heat alerts remained in some parts of northern Spain and the maximum temperature could be 42C in parts of the Basque country.
Meanwhile, Italian news agency Ansa said that 16 provincial capitals in Italy are under red heat alert, and Latina will be added to the list on Wednesday and Bari on Thursday.
