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Heatwave: "The most fragile can die on the first day"

2020-08-08T15:01:27.098Z


Fifteen departments are now on red alert. This new episode of great heat will last until Wednesday, an exceptionally long


Hot shots follow one another and are not alike. The peak of last week made the thermometer climb very high, it had approached 40 ° C in Albi on Monday July 31 but this outbreak of fever had been brief. The heat wave that started this Thursday will instead laze around the territory for several days and that is the whole danger.

"In Paris, we are heading towards a sequence of six consecutive days above 35 degrees, an exceptional episode outside of 2003 (nine days in August)", indicates meteorologist Guillaume Séchet. In Lille (North), we expect five days of very high heat above 35 degrees and four tropical nights in a row, without ever going below 20 degrees. Unheard of since the resort opened in 1944 according to Météoville.net.

France, especially in the North, sweats profusely because of the hot air which arrives from the south and vegetates above our heads, due to a high pressure blockage. "You have to imagine a screed under which the trapped air heats up," explains Olivier Proust, forecaster at Météo France. What is fascinating is that this heat wave will be accompanied by stormy degradations which should refresh the air. However, not at all. The temperature will remain desperately hot. "

"That's how we had 15,000 deaths in 2003"

Almost all of Ile-de-France went on red alert this Saturday, with the exception of Seine-et-Marne. However, this Sunday, the department joins the highest level of surveillance, like the whole of the northern tip of France (Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Aisne, Oise). In all, Météo France has placed fifteen departments on red heat wave alert, 55 on orange vigilance. While the rest of the country suffocates, it is chilly on the western tip. In Ouessant (Finistère), you could put on a little wool: it was a maximum of 19 degrees there this Saturday.

“The heatwaves that last are trying for our bodies. A few hot hours are painful, but nothing more. Beyond that, it's dangerous. The most fragile can die on the first day. Then others, a little less fragile. And so on. That's how we had 15,000 deaths in 2003 ”, recalls Doctor Jean-Louis San Marco, author of“ Heat wave and winter cold, how to protect yourself ”(Ed. Du Rocher).

VIDEO. July 15, 1957: Paris was hot, very hot

Elderly people who can no longer sweat and lower their body temperature can die. "It is all the more revolting since it suffices to moisten the hands and forearms of the elderly, for example with a sprayer, then to make a current of air while waving your hand or if you are equipped by turning on the fan ”, points out Doctor San Marco.

Suffocating nights expected

Risk of dehydration, heart that tires, burning day after burning day, the bodies wear out… “Whereas in normal times, we evacuate half a liter a day through perspiration, in periods of strong heat, it is a liter per hour: fifty times more. No wonder the human machine is struggling! »Continues the specialist.

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Especially since suffocating nights are not conducive to restful sleep. However, after sunset from Friday to Saturday, the temperature did not drop below 25 degrees in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), beating the previous record which dates back to 1975. In Bellême (Orne ) where, at its coolest, it was still 25.1 degrees, nighttime temperatures have never been so stifling.

In Paris, Météo France's Eiffel Tower station recorded its second highest value after 2003, even though it has never been less than 28.5 degrees. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, other records are expected, especially in Haute-Normandie and Pas-de-Calais.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-08-08

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