AUGUST 2022 HEAT WEATHER. While the July heat wave is just coming to an end, forecasters are predicting a further rise in temperatures as of Sunday, with a possible heat wave in August, starting next week. What temperatures are expected? Who is concerned ? The latest info.
[Mis à jour le 28 juillet 2022 à 11h09] Summer 2022 is breaking heat records! After a heat wave in June, a heat wave in July, should we expect a third heat wave in August? This is what the latest weather forecasts suggest with a rise in mercury from Sunday July 31, and 35 degrees expected next week in the southeast, with peaks at 40 degrees. The heat wave thresholds could be reached in some departments. As a reminder, a heat wave is defined by:
- A period of high heat;
- With temperatures 5 degrees higher than normal for the season;
- The day and the night ;
- For 3 consecutive days.
What are the forecasters predicting for the days and weeks to come? Where is there a risk of a heat wave in August? What are the steps to take to protect yourself from the heat and cool your home?
Towards a new heat wave in early August? Map and forecast for next week
While the temperatures have finally dropped, La Chaîne Météo announces a further rise in temperatures this weekend in a large part of France. Only the north, the northwest and the Atlantic coast should be spared by this new wave of strong heat.
But this is only the beginning, the mercury will gradually climb to reach 35 degrees in the southeast with peaks at 40 degrees. Get ready to be very hot again from the middle of next week. A third heat wave is likely in the southeast.
What are the temperatures expected in the southeast in the coming days?
It is in the southeast that temperatures will rise on Sunday. Expect to be hot. Here are the forecasts for Meteo France :
- Aix en Provence : it is already 34 degrees this Thursday, July 28 afternoon. A small drop is expected on Friday with a maximum of 31 degrees, followed by a further rise on Saturday with 34 degrees expected at the hottest of the day, 35 on Sunday, and the thermometer will show up to 36 degrees for the rest of the week.
- Albi : the temperatures are rather pleasant on Thursday and Friday, around 30 degrees. Saturday will be 32 degrees at the hottest of the day, then 33 degrees on Sunday, 37 degrees on Monday and 39 degrees on Tuesday, the hottest day of the week.
- Carpentras : 34 degrees are expected at the hottest of the day this Thursday. A small drop is expected on Friday with 31 degrees, then it will be hot again on Saturday with 33 degrees. 35 degrees are expected on Sunday, 37 on Monday August 1 and 38 degrees on Tuesday.
- Lyons: temperatures will start to rise on Sunday with 32 degrees in the afternoon, but it will be very hot from Tuesday August 2 with 34 degrees expected on Tuesday and 36 degrees on Wednesday.
- Grenoble : temperatures will rise gradually at the end of the week with 30 degrees on Saturday, 32 on Sunday, 31 degrees on Monday, 33 degrees on Tuesday and 36 degrees on Wednesday.
- Marseilles: after a hot weekend where the mercury will climb to 34 degrees, the city will benefit from a thaw thanks to the proximity of the sea. The maximum temperatures next week will be between 30 and 31 degrees.
- Toulouse: temperatures will gradually rise. 27 degrees are expected Friday, 31 Saturday, 32 Sunday, 35 Monday, to reach 37 degrees Tuesday and 36 Wednesday.
Heat wave 2022: after two heat waves (June and July), a very hot month of August in sight?
Does this hot weather from May with a first heat wave then the heat waves of mid-June and July predict a very hot summer in 2022 with heat waves? It’s off to a good start! The end of July promises to be still very hot, especially in the south-east of the country. Here’s what forecasters predict The Weather Channel until mid-August:
- Week of July 25 to 31: it’s the end of the heat wave, the temperatures are becoming pleasant again before a further rise in temperatures on Sunday July 31.
- Week from August 1 to 7: a risk of a new heat wave which is confirmed for 3/4 of France. From Monday August 1, a rise in hot air between the Pyrenees and the Alps gradually sets in, causing temperatures to rise, with a peak expected on Thursday August 4. Temperatures around 35 degrees are expected with possible peaks at 40 degrees.
- Week of August 8 to 14: after high temperatures, the mercury will drop. A summer week is expected throughout France with sunshine and pleasant temperatures. If the temperatures could be a little lower, they will still remain above normal for the season.
- Week of August 15 to 21: The south could experience more unstable weather. The north should continue to benefit from high pressure conditions and sunshine.
What are the recommendations to follow during the heat wave?
Heat wave, heat peak, heat wave and heat dome: what are the differences?
Heat wave and heat wave are two different things. To speak of a heat wave, the temperatures must be 5 degrees higher than normal for the season, day and night, and this for at least 3 days and 3 nights. The heat wave temperature threshold therefore differs according to the departments and regions. Heat waves most often occur in France in July and August. We must be vigilant from the month of June. High temperatures, even above seasonal norms, do not necessarily mean a heat wave. Most often, these are heat waves.
The term heat peak is more to be used during a sudden rise in temperature, whereas a heat wave corresponds to a longer episode. Météo France judges that a heat wave is in progress when temperatures above the monthly average are detected by more than three degrees Celsius, for at least three days.
Last term often mentioned these days when talking about these scorching temperatures, that of a heat dome. A heat dome settled over almost the entire country this May 2022. This meteorological phenomenon is explained by a large mass of hot air from Morocco and Spain, trapped by atmospheric pressure. This usually occurs in summer, but also in spring. This results in scorching heat.
You should know that Météo-France provides several levels of heat wave vigilance: level 1 (green) corresponds to a “seasonal watch”, level 2 (yellow) to a “heat warning” and it is level 3 (orange) which corresponds to the “heat wave alert”. Finally level 4 (red), the highest, determines “maximum mobilization”. In summer, it is not uncommon for several departments to be placed on orange or red alert for the heat wave.
Heat wave: what are the temperature records recorded in recent years?
If the heat wave of the summer of 2003 remains in everyone’s memory (and that of 1976 also among the old), France has since experienced other episodes of very hot weather. The summer of 2019 had broken several records with absolute temperature records reached in several cities. According to data from Météo-France, 50 cities had thus recorded a new record since July 25, 2019. While the summer of 2019 had been very hot, some records were broken during this heat wave in mid-June 2022.
A look back at the first heat wave of summer 2022 and the heat wave day of Saturday June 18, 2022: 150 municipalities broke a heat record according to meteorologist Patrick Marlière, interviewed by BFM TV: “We went from 70 cities with monthly records beaten, more than 150 today in France, from the Pyrenees to the Belgian border”. The city of Nantes thus broke its record for the month of June with 39.1°C. In the South-West, records at more than 40 degrees have been reached: Biarritz with 42.9°, Saint-Jean-de-Luz with 42° or Bordeaux with 40°.
The July 2022 heat wave also set temperature records on Monday, July 18. Among the 63 records recorded that day, the majority are in the north, west or southwest. We can cite :
- Beaulieu-sur-Layon (49): 42.7°C
- Biscarrosse (40): 42.6°C
- Nantes (44): 42°C
- La Roche-sur-Yon (85): 41.5°C
- Cholet (49): 41.3°C
- Niort (79): 41°C
- Rennes (35): 40.5°C
- Caen (14): 40.1°C
- Dinard (35): 40°C
- Saint-Brieuc (22): 39.7°C
- Noirmoutier (85): 38.7°C
- Lorient (56): 37.6°C
- Brest (29): 39.3
- The island of Yeu (85): 35.9°C