Heatwave: four departments still on red alert, 55 on orange alert

Much of France is preparing to experience a final day of heatwave on Wednesday, July 2, after sweltering the day before under temperatures of up to 41.4°C, an early heatwave that also affected millions of Europeans.

Aube, Yonne, Loiret, and Cher remain on red alert until 10 p.m., Météo France indicated in its latest early morning bulletin. The departments of Île-de-France, Vienne, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, and Loir-et-Cher have been downgraded to orange.

While the maximum temperatures will only be 25°C along the Atlantic coast, the thermometer will still reach up to 39°C in other regions, heralding another difficult day for their inhabitants, stunned by the heat.

On Tuesday, 2,200 poorly equipped schools, 12 middle schools, and one high school closed – around 3% of all educational establishments – revealing the inadequacy of school buildings in the face of climate change.

The nights brought little respite: Météo France forecast temperatures still between 20 and 23°C at their coolest Tuesday night into Wednesday. In Paris, it was 25°C around 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

"Due to human-induced global warming, extreme heat is becoming more frequent and more intense," said Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), calling it a phenomenon with which "we must learn to live."

The rest of Europe , particularly in the South, also suffered from the heatwaves, which the UN described as a "silent killer" , with warnings issued from Portugal to Croatia and Greece, as well as in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Paris, known for its urban density and lack of green spaces, was placed on red alert on Tuesday for the first time in five years, with temperatures hovering around 38°C, the top of the Eiffel Tower closed, parks kept open at night and polluting cars banned from driving.

This "differentiated traffic" was to be lifted on Wednesday at 6:00 a.m., the Police Prefecture indicated, with forecasts indicating "a persistence of the pollution episode (...) with, however, a decrease in the concentrations of ozone pollutants." The 20 km/h reduction in maximum authorized speeds throughout the Greater Paris area is to remain in force all day.

Extreme heat can cause dehydration, muscle cramps, headaches or nausea, the most serious risk being heat stroke , which can lead to death, especially in fragile people.

This episode of extreme heat "is unusual because it is extreme, very early in the summer season and climate change has most certainly made it worse," noted Samantha Burgess, a climatologist for the European Copernicus Observatory .

According to a publication by Allianz Trade on Tuesday, the European economy could lose 0.5 percentage points of growth in 2025 due to recent heat waves.

The health impact will take longer to measure. In France, according to the Ministry of Health, an initial estimate of excess mortality during the period will be available approximately two weeks after the end of the heatwave, but detailed data based on medical data will not be available until the fall.