A week after the deadly floods in the Benelux and Germany, the climate continues to affect western Europe.
In the United Kingdom, since the weekend, temperatures exceed 30 ° C in Wales, the west, and central England and Northern Ireland.
A situation that prompted the Met Office, the British equivalent of Météo France, to launch its new amber (orange) heatwave alert, created in June.
It runs until Thursday July 22, and until Friday for Northern Ireland.
In connection with the British health services, the Met Office thus reacted after the 2,256 deaths in the summer of 2020 caused by heat waves, which are increasing across the Channel. This new system aims to warn the population against the consequences of high temperatures on health, especially since the mercury does not drop below 18 ° C at night in London at this time. This change in the British weather service recalls the way in which Météo France had adapted, after the 15,000 deaths recorded during the 2003 heatwave, by creating a specific alert the following year.
In Northern Ireland, a record was broken, with 31.3 ° C on Wednesday.
“It can make us smile in France, but an extreme is defined according to the possible temperatures in a given place and time.
A temperature which seems cool for London will be less so in Aberdeen, Scotland, ”explains Olivier Proust, forecaster at Météo France.
In England, however, the thermometer remains further from the records.
It was 32 ° C in London on Wednesday, far from the 37 ° C of summer 2003. "With climate change, heat waves are increasing in frequency, intensity and duration", recalls Aurélien Ribes, researcher at the National Meteorological Research Center.
Heatwaves still possible in August
The high pressure center centered on the British Isles is also benefiting the west of France. This is the case in Finistère where, in some resorts, the oceanic air struggles to cool the hot atmosphere. If the trend is confirmed Thursday, it could be for three days in a row over 30 ° C in Brest. This is rare: since 1945, the phenomenon has only occurred three times. But, if these temperatures are well above the normal for the season, we are still far from the record in the Breton city, set at 35.2 ° C in July 1949.
In the southwest and the Mediterranean hinterland, heat peaks are expected this Thursday: 36 ° C, for example, in Nîmes, 37 ° C in Toulouse and 38 ° C in Montauban. “Short and not extreme episodes are usual in this season. This is a minor phenomenon compared to more severe episodes in recent years. This is why there is no orange heat wave alert, ”explains Aurélien Ribes.
On Friday, the hot air bubble will move towards the center of France, with a hazy sky. The weather will be muggy with 32 ° C to 34 ° C from the Center - Loire Valley to Lyonnais, with highs of 35 ° C possible in the South-East. The heat will not last forever. Thunderstorms will hit Brittany on Friday and much of the country this weekend. Guillaume Séchet, meteorologist and creator of the meteo-villes.com site, remains cautious in his forecasts. “The trends are not towards a heat wave for the end of July, but it can still occur in August. "