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HEATWAVE

Record-breaking heat: What temperatures can we expect in France this week?

Temperature records were broken across France on Monday as the searing heatwave continues - here's a look at the forecast for the week and when the heatwave is expected to break.

Published: 18 July 2022 08:57 CEST
Updated: 19 July 2022 13:31 CEST
Record-breaking heat: What temperatures can we expect in France this week?
A road sign reads "Extreme Heat, drink water" as France experiences an extreme heatwave. Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP

Monday saw red heat warnings for 15 départements on the west of the country and dozens of towns recorded their highest ever temperatures.

The mercury hit 39.3C in Brest on the Atlantic coast in the far northwest of the country compared with a previous record of 35.1C from 2002.

Saint-Brieuc on the Channel coast sizzled in 39.5C compared with a previous record of 38.1C, while western Nantes recorded 42C, beating a previous high of 40.3C set in 1949.

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The all-time high temperature recorded in mainland France dates to 2019 when the southern village of Verargues, north-east of Montpellier, experienced 46C, this was not broken although large parts of the rest of France saw temperatures over 40C on Monday.

The west coast, especially the north west, is usually one of the cooler areas of the country but this time was not spared by the heat.

Tuesday

Overnight from Monday to Tuesday the temperature did not drop below 25C anywhere, making for some sticky and uncomfortable nights, but from Tuesday morning the temperature will start to drop.

The drop will begin in the west, where temperatures are expected to fall sharply – 15C-20C in just a couple of hours. Further east, including Paris, temperatures will stay very high – above 40C – until Tuesday evening.

Overnight Tuesday there is a risk of stormy showers as the temperature falls suddenly.

Wednesday onwards

Rain showers, some heavy and with thunder, are likely on Wednesday but from Wednesday onwards temperatures will be back to seasonal norms – 25C-30C in the north and 30C-35C in the south. 

Fires

The intense heatwave has already caused multiple forest fires in France and elsewhere, and some farmers have taken to working at night to minimise the risk of a spark from their harvesting equipment starting a fire that destroys their crops.

Firefighters are still battling to control two massive wildfires in Gironde, south west France, where an area the size of Paris has already burned. Thousands of locals and tourists have been evacuated as the fires continue to rage.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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