Heatwave: 16 departments on orange alert from Friday midday

On Friday morning, "minimum temperatures will already be warm, around 17 to 20°C in the departments of Manche, Rhône and Isère, and 19 to 21°C in the other departments on orange alert . " "During the day, maximum temperatures will generally reach 33 to 36°C or even 37 to 38°C in some places. During the night from Friday to Saturday, minimum temperatures will be high again, at 19 to 22°C," the forecaster added.

Météo-France had already placed a large number of departments in the West and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on yellow heatwave alert on Thursday. These alert levels are established not only based on temperatures but also on the specific characteristics of each department (populations are, for example, more accustomed to high temperatures in the South ) and health criteria.

This heat is caused by the blocking of a high pressure system over France, a situation sometimes referred to as an "omega blockage" because the shape of the air masses on the map resembles the Greek letter in the shape of a horseshoe. An upper-level depression over the Atlantic will cause warm air masses present over the Iberian Peninsula to rise.

The situation is also affecting other Western European countries. In France, "these heat levels are remarkable for June, but not unprecedented," said Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Météo-France.

The country has already experienced two notable June heatwaves in recent years, one in 2019 and another, earlier, in June 2022. Global warming is making heatwaves earlier and later, more frequent, longer, and more intense.