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WEATHER

Almost half of France now on heatwave alert

The national weather agency has issued orange alerts to 43 départements as a heatwave continues to swell across France.

Almost half of France now on heatwave alert
Children cool off in Nice's fountains. Photo: AFP

Weather agency Météo France has issued weather warnings for most of France, with the number of départements placed on orange alert rising to 43.

The alerts, sent out in a bulletin on Thursday afternoon, are in place until Saturday morning.

The départements where the alert was raised from yellow to orange were: Jura, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Moselle, Haute-Saône, Vosges and Territoire de Belfort.

An orange alert is the second highest level of alert in France and urges the public to be vigilant and to avoid unnecessary travel. People were also advised to spend at least three hours of the day in a “cool place”.
 
The départements receiving the warnings were mostly in central and north eastern France, with a few in the south west on alert as well (see map below). A further 30 were on yellow alert, the second highest level.
 
 
The agency said that temperatures had topped 35C in several areas on Thursday afternoon, including Paris and central France, after Wednesday saw temperatures above 30C across almost the entire country.

 
People won't be feeling much relief into the evening, as temperatures will still be as high as 35C in some places, notably in the central and south western reaches of France. 
 

On Friday, temperatures in the east of the country were expected to rise to 35-37C, while seeing a slight drop in western areas.

The agency predicted a further rise in the east on Saturday, with Paris and central France likely to reach a maximum of 35-38C.

The agency said that even healthy people will be at risk if they're in the areas with orange alerts, and it urged people to watch out for signs of heat stroke, especially among the sick and elderly. 

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WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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