The current heatwave in France since last Thursday claimed the lives of 40 mostly young people who sought relief by swimming and drowned. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced this at Tuesday’s meeting of the interdepartmental crisis group, according to AFP.
For the first time in history, the highest degree of heat warning applies on Tuesday in more than half of the French territory.
Over 28 degrees at night
Tuesday night was already the warmest in France since the start of measurements, Météo France announced earlier. According to preliminary data, the average lowest night temperature at 30 reference stations reached 21.6 degrees Celsius. The warmest was in the village of Pouzauges in the west of the country, where the temperature did not drop below 28.7 degrees at night.
On Tuesday, Météo France declared the highest red degree of heat warning in 54 of the total 96 departments, in another 35 the orange degree of warning applies. It means that more than 90 percent of the French population is exposed to extreme heat, which is contributed to by global warming, the AFP agency noted.
Due to the extreme weather, the opening hours of some tourist attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum in Paris, were limited. One of the other consequences of the second heat wave in less than a month is the shutdown of the Golfech nuclear power plant, which is cooled by water from the Garonne. The temperature of the water in the river should reach 28 degrees Celsius, which is the maximum allowed value set by law.
Some train connections were also cancelled, including connections between Paris and Brussels. According to entrepreneurs, the economy is also suffering. “France operates at a slower pace. Companies are introducing recommendations to protect employees according to their capabilities,” said Patrick Martin, head of the employers’ union Medef, in an interview with BFM TV.
In Italy on Tuesday, the authorities issued a red level heat warning in 15 cities, including Rome and Milan, and expect to increase this number to 16 on Wednesday. A red warning for “extreme heat” was also issued by the British Meteorological Agency Met Office for the southern part of the country, including London, for Wednesday and Thursday, which is a relatively rare event in Britain.
