France prepares to break heat records as fires spread

A firefighter creates a tactical fire in Louchats, as forest fires continue to spread in the Gironde region, southwestern France, July 17, 2022.

France was bracing on Monday for what could become one of the hottest days ever recorded in its history, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius in tourist coastal regions as temperatures intensified. forest fires in the west and south of the country.

“The peak of this heat wave is expected on Monday,” Météo-France said in a statement, forecasting temperatures of between 40 and 42 degrees and “higher in some local areas” across France’s western Atlantic coast.

“The day could become one of the hottest ever recorded in France,” the French weather service said, adding that temperatures could be around an unheard-of 40 degrees in the Breton port of Brest in the country’s northwest. During the day, a new national record for average temperature throughout the day could be set, which is now 29.4 degrees, reached in the historic heat waves of 2003 and 2019.

Thick columns of smoke could be seen from the famous beaches of the French Atlantic coast near the imposing dune of Pyla, in the vicinity of Arcachon, as strong winds and high temperatures continued to fuel forest fires. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin sent three additional planes to the region to fight the fire. Fires in the region have spread over 14,000 hectares, the local state prefecture said in a social media message on Monday morning, adding that injuries have been reported.

France on Sunday issued a red alert for several regions, the highest possible, and called on the population to “extreme vigilance.”