Weather. Heatwave: 10 departments still on orange alert this Saturday

On this first weekend of summer vacation departures, the heatwave continues across a small southeastern quarter of the country. Ten departments are still on orange heatwave alert this Saturday, according to Météo France, which has downgraded the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, and Var departments to yellow.

The departments in orange this Saturday are Ardèche, Aude, Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, Gard, Hérault, Pyrénées-Orientales, Vaucluse and the two departments of Corsica.

Following the lifting of the orange alert in Ardèche and Drôme on Saturday at 10 p.m., only eight departments will remain affected on Sunday, the meteorological service forecast in its 6 a.m. bulletin.

"On Saturday afternoon, temperatures are still expected to reach 36°C to 38°C in the departments that are on orange alert, where the following night will remain very hot, before a significant drop in temperatures on Sunday afternoon, reaching Corsica on Monday," specifies Météo France.

"Thus, most departments will come out of orange alert on Sunday morning, except for Corsica, which will not come out until Monday morning, after a very hot Sunday and night from Sunday to Monday," he added.

On Wednesday and Thursday, most of France experienced the final days of a heatwave that will go down in history for its early onset, duration and record temperatures.