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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

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Published: 30 April 2024 08:42 CEST
Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

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