An intense heatwave gripping Iberia and France since Friday brought record temperatures to towns in SW France on Monday and temperatures in the low 40s will persist today and tomorrow while the heat spreads further north and east over Europe.
A historic heatwave in France, which began on Friday August 8th, has intensified at the start of this week.
Argeliers, in Aude in the far south of France, towards the Spanish border, set a record with a high temperature of 43.4C on Sunday, August 10
The heatwave, currently underway in the southern half of France, peaked yesterday in the southwest, and will spread to the center-east and northeast of the country on Tuesday.
The heatwave across France has had some influence from the remnants of former Tropical Storm Dexter, which arrived to the west of Europe over the weekend, which combined with high pressure to the east over central Europe, and pulled an extremely hot air mass northeast from Spain across France and now towards central Europe this week.
Many records were broken in the southwest of France yesterday, with temperatures reaching over 42°C in some places. Gavarnie, at an altitude of 1,410 meters in the Pyrenees mountains, even reached 35.6°C.
Notable, even unprecedented, maximum temperatures were reached yesterday across the southwest of France, often 12 degrees above normal.
The values below from Meteo France for maximum temperatures on Monday afternoon (provisional values as of 5 p.m. on Monday):
42.4°C in Mirande (Gers);
42.3°C in Carcassonne (Aude);
42.3°C in Saint-Côme d’Olt (Aveyron);
42.1°C in Angoulême (Charente) - an all-time high, surpassing the 41.1°C of August 4, 2003;
42.1°C in Bergerac (Dordogne) - an all-time high, surpassing the 41.1°C of August 4, 2003;
41.6°C in Bordeaux (Gironde) - an all-time high, surpassing the 41.2°C of July 23, 2019;
41.5°C in Saint-Emilion (Gironde) - an unprecedented value for any month combined, surpassing the 41.3°C of August 4, 2003;
41.2°C in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne);
40.8°C in Saintes (Charente-Maritime) - an unprecedented value for the month of August, surpassing the 40.5°C of August 12, 2022;
39.8°C in Saint-Girons (Ariège) - an unprecedented value for any month combined, surpassing the 39.2°C of August 24, 2023;
39.6°C in Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées);
39.1°C in Orthez (Pyrénées-Atlantiques);
39°C in Niort (Deux-Sèvres).
The highest recorded temperature in France is 45.9°C (114.6°F) recorded in June 2019 at Gallargues-le-Montueux, in the Gard department of southern France
The French weather service Meteo France issued red warnings for extreme high temperatures on Monday for 12 departments, with 46 central and southern departments in France under an orange heatwave alert, accounting for more than half of mainland France. Today, there are 14 departments under red heat warnings, otherwise most of France is under orange heat warnings, apart from the far north and northwest. Red heat warnings again in force tomorrow for the same areas of SW France and the Rhone Valley.
Today, temperatures remain very high in the southwest, barely lower than Monday's. Peak temperatures of 42°C are expected in the Aude. Temperatures of between 39 and 41°C are forecast in the Rhône Valley. In addition, the high temperatures are spreading north and northeast: 36°C to 38°C are expected from the Loire Valley to the Île-de-France region (which includes Paris) and the Grand Est region.
The Heat Dome across Iberia and France will also build northeast across central Europe this week and will persist across western and central Europe throughout this week, lasting through to at least the weekend. Extreme heat with temperatures reaching the high 30s and low 40s will affect much of Iberia and France throughout the week, while temperatures also rise into the mid 30s degrees C across Benelux, Germany, Switzerland and further east over northern Italy, Austria and the Balkans.
England and Wales will also tap into this heat this week, with hot and humid air over France spreading north, allowing temperatures to reach 30-33C across southern areas of England today, perhaps 34C in a few spots. Wednesday will also be another hot day, perhaps even higher temperatures across eastern England, with UKV showing 35-36C over the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire area. Heat eases a little Thursday, but building again across southern UK on Friday and lasting into the weekend, with low 30s across S England.
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