The heat wave does not stop! France is in the grip of a heat wave that started this weekend, with abnormally high temperatures over a large southern half of France. Departments in the Rhône Valley could record “temperature levels never before measured in France” on Tuesday, Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau warned on Monday. BFM TV.
“We have a fear for tomorrow (Tuesday) of having to switch to red vigilance on part of the departments of the Rhône valley”, declared the minister. On Monday, 50 departments were placed on orange alert.
The list of departments in the Rhône Valley that can go into red vigilance should be known later in the day, Aurélien Rousseau having indicated that he was waiting for more information following an exchange with Météo-France. In terms of public health “what matters most is the duration of this episode”, warned the minister, the weather forecasts considering a drop “from Thursday or Friday”.
Rhône, Drôme, Ardèche and Haute-Loire in red on Tuesday?
Météo-France had announced on Sunday that “certain absolute records are likely to be broken, in particular on Tuesday towards the Rhône valley, with 40 to 42 degrees expected”. The organization described this “intense and lasting heatwave episode” as “particularly late for the season”. At the start of the afternoon, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, visiting Lyon, indicated that four of the 50 departments placed on orange vigilance by Metéo-France would “switch” into red by the end of the Monday day. The decision taken, according to the minister “given the persistence of the heat wave and the temperatures”, targets the departments of Rhône, Drôme, Ardèche and Haute-Loire, according to his entourage. Details will be given in the 4 p.m. report from Météo France.