It will still be very hot, really very hot, this Tuesday over a large part of France. The “intense and long-lasting” heatwave episode continues with 49 departments placed by Météo-France on orange vigilance and 4 on red vigilance.
Red heat wave vigilance is triggered on the Ardèche, Drôme, Haute-Loire and Rhône from 3 p.m. The heatwave orange vigilance will be extended to Deux-Sèvres, Vendée and Vienne, i.e. still nearly fifty departments in heatwave orange vigilance in total. The heat wave peak is expected this Tuesday and Wednesday in the center-east of the country, and Wednesday and Thursday in the Southwest.
Météo-France notes the “exceptional nature” of the phenomenon
“In the Rhône Valley as well as in the east of the Massif Central, the heat continues to intensify”, underlines Météo-France, noting the “exceptional nature” of the phenomenon in this zone “due to its intensity and its duration. “. “It is still in the Drôme and the Ardèche that the most severe temperature levels are expected with frequently more than 40-42 ° C for the maximum”, further warns the public establishment.
At daybreak, it will already be 18 to 23 degrees, locally 23 to 26 degrees in Occitania, around the Rhône valley, in the south of PACA and Corsica. Afternoon temperatures will often peak between 33 and 38 degrees. But we will wait until 38 to 40 degrees in part of Occitania, and from Rhône-Alpes to Provence and the Var. The heat will be particularly intense around the Rhône valley where the maximum will quite often reach 40 to 42 degrees.
The risk of fire outbreaks is further exacerbated by extreme temperatures. In the Hautes-Alpes, a fire which broke out on Sunday evening in Chanousse was thus still not fixed on Monday afternoon and had totally or partially destroyed more than a hundred hectares, according to the prefecture.
Bearable heat in Brittany
The very high temperatures will continue until the middle of the week with 39 to 42 degrees expected on Wednesday and Thursday, in the south-west and the Rhône valley, before a drop in temperatures which will begin slowly on Friday, according to Météo-France .
On the other hand, from Brittany to the northern borders as well as on the Atlantic coast, despite a slight increase, the heat will remain bearable. On the relief of the Pyrenees, the Southern Alps and the Massif Central, cumulus clouds will develop in the afternoon, and will lead to a few showers, even thunderstorms on the east of the Pyrenees chain.