Arabic version: موجة حر قياسية تسبب انقطاع الكهرباء والغرق في فرنسا
According to BBC News,
Tens of thousands of homes are without power in western France, as temperatures are set to peak across the country on Wednesday during a record-breaking heatwave. About 68,000 homes in Brittany have been affected, with electricity unlikely to be fully restored until Wednesday night at the earliest, authorities said. More than half of the country remains under a red heat alert, with a high of 43°C (109.4°F) possible later in the day in the southwest, according to forecaster Météo France.
The peak comes after the country experienced its hottest day since records began on Tuesday, with an average temperature of 29.8°C (85.54°F). Pissos, in the south-western Landes region, saw a scorching temperature of 44.3°C on Tuesday, Météo France said. The country also experienced its hottest night ever recorded from Monday night into Tuesday, with an average temperature of 29.9°C across the country, the forecaster said.
As the heatwave spreads to other parts of western Europe, an orange alert for dangerous weather is in place for parts of the Netherlands. A rare red heat alert is in place for parts of the UK, where temperatures could hit 38°C on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to peak in the Netherlands and Belgium on Friday, while Germany is expected to see the mercury rise to 40°C over the weekend. The heatwave will also extend to eastern Europe over the next few days, with severe heat warnings issued for countries including Poland, Croatia and Hungary for later in the week.
So far, France, Spain and Italy have been hardest hit by the heatwave. Forty people have drowned in heatwave-related incidents in France since last Thursday, according to the prime minister. On Wednesday, red alerts in France were extended to include four more regions, bringing the total number to 58. Thirty-one more regions are under an orange alert. Highs of 39 to 40°C are forecast across much of the country’s west, from Paris to Brittany, and are expected to remain the same until the weekend.
Authorities warn that the risk of forest fires is higher during such a prolonged and intense heatwave. In the Maine-et-Loire region, more than 150 firefighters were deployed to fight a major fire on Tuesday in the Breignon forest in Saint-Macaire-du-Bois. It was brought under control overnight, authorities said, with no one reported injured. Sights in the French capital Paris have also been impacted by the hot weather. The world’s most visited museum, the Louvre, said it would close its doors earlier this week. The Louvre said its historic building “remains fragile, external and is not sufficiently adapted to climate change”, adding that the “build-up of heat is at its highest at the end of the day, and intensified by the volume of visitors”. The Eiffel Tower is also closing earlier than usual on Tuesday and Wednesday.
