With temperatures expected to reach 40°C and risks "severe" of fires, the heatwave hit the south of France on Friday with four departments on orange alert and will spread on Saturday to a large part of the South East, and even beyond in the coming days. Friday from 12:00, Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Hérault and the Pyrénées Orientales will move to orange alert, with as "aggravating factor" the surface temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea which will be able to "influence the effect of minimum temperatures, making nights more stifling", warns Météo-France in its morning vigilance bulletin.
Temperatures between 35 and 38°C, with local peaks of 39°C or even higher inland, are forecast. But the heat could worsen and, more importantly, spread, with nine additional departments on orange alert starting Saturday midday: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Drôme, Haute-Corse, Isère, Rhône, Var, and Vaucluse, the meteorological agency explains. Saturday's highs will generally be around 37 to 39°C.
This is a "early heatwave episode", whose duration and progressive geographical extension towards the north, impose "special vigilance", insists Météo-France, which judges " likely " the extension of the orange alert over the next few days.
Forest areas prohibited
Since June 19, France has been experiencing its 50th national heatwave since 1947, half of which occurred in the 21st century, a consequence of global warming, which is increasing the intensity and frequency of heatwaves. For several days now, town halls, prefectures, and firefighters have been issuing warnings and recommendations. In Bouches-du-Rhône, the department most exposed to the risk of forest fires in metropolitan France according to the prefecture, the prefect announced the closure of 14 out of 26 forest areas, with "strict prohibition" to enter. A partial ban on work has been imposed in seven other massifs, where work is only permitted in the morning.
The Bouches-du-Rhône firefighters, who have been dealing with numerous fires for several days, which have been limited for the time being, have announced “preventive devices pre-positioned on the ground between massifs and roads to enable massive intervention in the event of a fire breaking out”. In Vaucluse, the prefecture, citing a “forest fire risk considered very severe”, also decreed a ban on the massifs of the Rhône Valley, reserving access to groups accompanied by a trained professional and limiting the carrying out of work between 5:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
In the Gard department, the prefecture, which fears temperatures of up to 40°C on Saturday, has announced an extension of the department's daytime access hours, with the distribution of bottled water, the provision of air-conditioned rooms and showers, as well as support from the emergency medical services.
The Gard prefect also calls for "very great vigilance" for all those who work outside and asks employers to “take into account the risks induced by climatic conditions” and of“adapt the work accordingly”In Marseille, the town hall announced that municipal swimming pools would be free until the end of the heatwave and that a map of air-conditioned public places would be made available.
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