Heat wave: 38 departments now placed on orange alert, the south-west and the Atlantic coast in particular – LaDepeche.fr

the essentials Météo France has decided to significantly increase the number of departments placed on heatwave orange vigilance this Saturday afternoon. The list now includes 38 names, against 16 in the morning. The whole southwest is concerned, as well as Andorra. In the rest of the country, only four departments avoid yellow vigilance. Metropolitan France is suffocating. This Saturday afternoon, July 16, forecasters have decided to place no less than 38 departments on orange alert against the heat wave. An area stretching from Brittany to the Pyrenees is concerned, as well as a large part of the Rhône valley. In Occitania, only Aude, Hérault and Lozère are content with yellow vigilance, the rest of the region is covered in orange. This is also the case in New Aquitaine for Lot-et-Garonne, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as well as Gironde, still in the grip of flames. Andorra is also concerned. It’s simple, in the country, there are only four departments that have not switched to heat wave vigilance: Corse-du-Sud, Puy-de-Dôme, Allier and Ain. And Météo France does not see any improvement coming in the very short term. It should even be worse: “Sunday, the rise in temperatures continues, in particular in the South-West where values ​​close to 40°C will often be reached”, write the forecasters in their last bulletin. Monday, the worst day “The high temperatures will also spread towards the North-West. The Breton departments will thus often experience 34/35°C or more. The minimum temperatures, so far quite mild, will generally be higher than in recent days. The night cooling will therefore be less”, adds Météo France, which estimates that Monday will be the culmination of this heat wave for the country. “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. the eastern flank of the country. On Tuesday, the significant drop in temperatures by the Atlantic seems to be confirmed. The high temperatures will persist over the eastern half of France”, specify the meteorologists.