Heatwave coming to an end: 7 departments remain on orange alert in the south

The heatwave is easing across the country. The heatwave will recede further on Monday, with the heatwave now concentrated around the Mediterranean on the tenth day of the heatwave, which is expected to end Monday evening.

According to the latest Météo-France bulletin published at 6 a.m. on Monday , seven departments in the south of France remain on orange alert. The departments concerned are Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Hérault, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, and Vaucluse.

The heatwave warning is expected to be lifted across the country "Tuesday morning with the arrival of thunderstorms from the west," according to the forecasting institute. Western and southern France continued to experience very high temperatures on Sunday afternoon, with temperatures reaching 40.4°C in Pézenas, near Montpellier.

This heatwave began on Friday, August 8, before reaching an exceptional level between Monday, August 11, and Wednesday, August 13. This heatwave particularly exhausted the inhabitants of the PACA region, which is one of the regions with the hottest summers.

While the temperature in the city is over 34 degrees, some Aix residents come to a park to enjoy some fresh air, in the shade of the trees. “We hide during the hottest parts of the day,” one of them tells RMC. Hand in hand with his partner, Claude is enjoying his fifth summer in Aix-en-Provence.

“It's been a very hot summer, but I think we have to get used to it, given what they're saying. I think climate change is here, and we're seeing it. But I have the impression it's happening faster than they predicted,” he continues.

Amandine is not sure she can endure the heat every summer: “I came here for my studies and the setting is great, but the summer period is quite difficult to live with. I might not stay in the region because of that.”

Odile also feels the urge to leave. She's lived here for five years, but is thinking about leaving the south of France. "I'm going to the mountains more to get cooler air. I lived in Greece for 25 years, so I'm familiar with the heat. But it's really unbearable this summer," she says. And according to some experts, things aren't going to get any better. By 2050, an event like the 2003 heatwave will become almost normal in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.