Meteorologists had added 22 new departments on Saturday under this banner, which recommends that the inhabitants of the areas concerned be «very vigilant»: Ariège, Aveyron, Cantal, Corrèze, Dordogne, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, Loire -Atlantic, Maine-et-Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Côte d’Armor, Morbihan, Finistère, Alpes-Maritime, Hautes-Alpes, Isère, Savoie, Haute-Savoie.
They had been added to the sixteen departments of the South-West and South-East which had already been there for several days: Gers, Landes, Lot, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Ardèche , Drôme, Gard, Haute-Garonne, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrenees-Orientales, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne and Vaucluse. As well as Andorra.
Sunday morning, Meteo France withdrew the Pyrénées-Orientales.
The weather vigilance scale has three levels of alert: yellow (be attentive), orange (be very vigilant) and red (absolute vigilance).
The episode of strong heat, which should last at least until the beginning of next week, mainly concerned Aquitaine, Occitanie, the Rhône valley and Provence with maximums between 35 and 39 degrees on Saturday, see 40 degrees locally.
The highs in these regions are expected to reach between 35 and 40 degrees on Sunday with temperatures reaching 41 degrees locally in the South West.
The maximum temperatures on Saturday were recorded in the South-West: 35.9°C in Bordeaux-Mérignac, 36.7°C in Agen and 38°C in Aiguillon, 38.2°C in Montauban, 38.2°C in Toulouse-Blagnac and 39.2 °C in Revel, 38.6°C in Albi, 38.8°C in Mont-de-Marsan and even 40.7°C in Bélis in the Landes.
“The rise in temperatures continues, in particular in the South-West where values close to 40°C will often be reached” on Sunday, Meteo France indicated in its 06:00 bulletin. «Minimum temperatures, so far fairly mild, will generally be higher than in recent days.»
«The strong heat will also extend towards the North-West. The Breton departments will thus often experience 34/35°C or more», warned the meteorologists.
According to them, «Monday will mark the culmination of this heatwave episode on the western side of the country with sometimes remarkable values: 40°C will often be approached, reached or exceeded».
“Records will certainly be broken,” they anticipated.
«Tuesday, the significant drop in temperatures by the Atlantic is confirmed. The high temperatures will persist over the eastern half of France. A stormy deterioration is expected, especially marked at the end of the day from the Massif Central to the Grand-Est», specified Meteo France.
Heat wave vigilance is likely to persist in these regions, «particularly around the Rhône valley».
This heat wave affects all of Western Europe, causing forest fires such as in the South West of France, Spain or Portugal. In the UK, the Meteorological Agency has issued the first-ever «red for extreme heat» alert in the country’s history. Temperatures could exceed 40 degrees there, a first since the start of weather measurements.
The last heat wave for the month of July dates back to 2019 and was exceptionally intense with average temperature records. France had thus experienced its hottest day since the start of measurements with 29.4°C on July 25 (tied with August 5, 2003), as well as its hottest night, with an average of 21.4 °C, the night of July 24 to 25.