The "heatwave" hotline, which provides advice "on how to protect yourself and those around you" from extreme heat, will be active from 2 p.m. on Saturday, the Ministry of Health announced.
The freephone number "Canicule Info Service" (Heatwave Info Service) can be reached at 0800.06.66.66 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and will be available until the end of the heatwave, according to the government press release.
As of Saturday, 16 departments are on orange heatwave alert and 26 are on yellow alert. "This second heatwave of the summer, which is currently affecting the southern half of the country, will intensify tomorrow and early next week," the ministry said.
"This heatwave requires special vigilance, especially for sensitive or exposed people," he adds.
He gives some advice: stay cool or spend several hours a day in a cool place, drink water without waiting to be thirsty, moisten and ventilate your body several times a day, close shutters and windows during the hottest hours and when it is hotter outside than inside, eat fresh and balanced meals, avoid alcohol and check on the most vulnerable.
In its bulletin, Meteo France specified on Friday that this was a "non-exceptional but fairly long-lasting heatwave."
"Maximum temperatures often above 35°C along the Garonne and Rhone rivers" are expected on Saturday, as well as "peaks above 38°C in Languedoc/Roussillon", with minimum temperatures "above 20°C around the Mediterranean and in the Rhone valley, (and) peaks of 24/26°C on the coasts".
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