© picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jerome Gilles
Starting on Sunday afternoon, 35 French departments will be under a red heat alert. The French weather service Météo-France expects Monday to possibly see the highest temperature ever recorded in France.
On Sunday, Météo-France expects temperatures to reach 41 degrees in France. Approximately 53 million French people live in the 35 departments under a red alert and the 45 departments under an orange alert. Météo-France is forecasting a “heat wave of exceptional intensity” in the area stretching from the Paris region to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
The 35 departments where a red alert due to the heat wave will be in effect starting on Sunday afternoon are Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde, Gers, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Lot, Corrèze, Creuse, Haute-Vienne, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Sarthe, Nièvre, Aube, Yonne, Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, and Vendée, as well as Paris and all other departments in Île-de-France.
France-Météo expects the heat wave to intensify further on Monday: “The average temperature in France (thermal indicator) could reach the level of the hottest day ever recorded in France, regardless of the month,” according to the weather institute’s website.
The regions least affected by the heat wave are located in northern France and around the Mediterranean Sea.
Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jerome Gilles