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Heatwave update: France extends alerts to 66 departments

Almost all of France (apart from the south east) is now roasting under temperatures up to 38C as heatwave alerts are extended to 66 departments.

Published: 20 June 2017 16:27 CEST
Heatwave update: France extends alerts to 66 departments
Map: Meteo France
Most of France is sizzling under scorching temperatures with 66 departments now on heatwave alert, including the entire greater Paris region of Ile-de-France, national weather agency Meteo France said.  
 
The weather agency extended the orange alert from 16 departments to 66 on Tuesday, meaning the sweltering temperatures are now affecting vast swathes of France.
 
The mercury is predicted to rise to nearly 40C in the west of the country with temperatures in the southwestern seaside town of Biarritz expected to reach a whopping 38C. 
 
In Paris and the areas immediately outside it, people will be roasting under temperatures of 36C, while people in the town of Dax in southwestern France will see temperatures of 37C and in Bordeaux and Nantes the mercury will also reach 36C. 
 
Paris has been forced to trigger its emergency heatwave action plan.
 
The 66 departments on alert are: Aisne, Aube, Doubs, Eure, Marne, Haute-Marne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saône, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Seine-Maritime, Somme, Territoire-de-Belfort (90), Ain, Allier, Ariège, Cher, Corrèze, Côte-d'Or, Creuse, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Isère, Jura, Loir-et-Cher, Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Loiret, Lot, Mayenne, Nièvre, Orne, Puy-de-Dôme, Hautes-Pyrénées, Rhône, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Yonne, Essonne et Val-d'Oise, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Maine-et-Loire, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Paris and the area immediately outside the city known as the “Petite Couronne”, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, Vienne and Haute-Vienne. 
 
 
Map: Meteo France 
 
Samu emergency medical teams reported a 15-20% rise in call-outs on Monday and people have been cautioned to take care in the extreme temperatures.
 
With many people struggling through the heatwave at work, all employers are legally obliged to look after their staff's well-being, that means providing fans if necessary and undertake other measures to ensure the working environment is cool enough. Needless to say they need to ensure there is a supply of cold water.
 
 
The heatwave is expected to peak on Wednesday and Thursday but for those who've had enough of the hot weather, it looks like there will be some relief at the weekend when temperatures are predicted to dip. 
 
 
 
Map: Meteo France
 
French authorities take heatwaves extremely seriously, and it's little wonder. Back in August 2003, a heatwave killed 15,000 mostly elderly people across the country. 

The warnings come soon after meteorologists at Météo France predicted that the month of June could be one of the top three hottest on record.

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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.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
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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