The high temperatures of this weekend will continue for part of the weekend, with some departments experiencing a heatwave, according to La Chaîne Météo.
It took until the second half of July for France to experience its first episode of intense heat. A sign that summer has arrived in France, the entire country will experience its first heat wave from Thursday, which will then last until Saturday. Temperatures of around 40°C should even be felt in several departments by Friday.
A heat wave corresponds to the exceeding of a certain temperature, over the whole country, for one or three days. And in the next three days, “the temperature should reach at least 25.3°C for one day and exceed 23.4°C for three days”, which are “the necessary criteria to be able to speak of a heat wave”, indicates The Weather Channel.
Friday, the hottest day of the week, temperatures are expected to be significantly higher than what France has experienced in recent weeks, with 34°C in Paris, 32°C in Strasbourg and 38°C in Montélimar.
The heat is likely to be particularly stifling inland and in the Mediterranean basin where the thermometer could display temperatures 5 to 10°C above seasonal norms, raising the risk of a heatwave in the south-eastern regions of France. With a peak of 40°C in the Gard, Vaucluse and inland Bouches-du-Rhône, warns Meteo France.
The departments on the Atlantic coast should benefit from milder temperatures, even cool ones during the day. In Brest, Biarritz and Cherbourg, the sun might not be there with temperatures expected around 20 to 24°C in the afternoon.
This heatwave is expected to continue into the evening and into Saturday, although its peak is expected on Friday. The departments in the south-east of France could still be in the grip of a heatwave with temperatures still exceeding 35°C in some places. Elsewhere, temperatures are expected to remain high, still 30°C in Paris, and 32 in Strasbourg and Dijon, but the cool air from the tip of Normandy and Brittany would start to trickle into the Loire and Gironde.
Several cities such as Bordeaux and Limoges are expected to lose 5 to 6 degrees. The phenomenon is expected to worsen on Sunday with temperatures below seasonal norms in 2/3 of the country. The vast majority of French departments are expected to fall below 25°C in the afternoon and experience a return of the disturbance from the west. Several stormy episodes are also expected in the east of the country, particularly in Lyon, Nice, Strasbourg and Dijon.