temperatures up to 10°C above normal for the season this Wednesday
In a number of municipalities, the mercury exceeded the usual values by more than 10°C. In question: a “dome of hot and stable air”, according to Météo France.
An early heat wave has hit France since the beginning of the week. From the south-west to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Alsace regions, the mercury posted values even higher than those of the day before this Wednesday, notes Météo France.
Record at Agen
According to Étienne Kapikian, forecaster, records have even been broken for the first half of May. In a tweet, the specialist quotes in particular the city of Agen (Lot-et-Garonne), where the temperature reached 32.4 ° C this Wednesday, against 31.3 on May 11, 2012. “The previous 32 ° C earlier in Agen dated from May 16 (five days later than today)”, he specifies. This was in 1945 (32.8°C) and 1992 (32.3°C).
The forecaster also met before the town of Saint-Yan, in Saône-et-Loire. 31.3°C were recorded there on Wednesday, against 30.6°C in 2015. Another example in Auch (Gers), where the bar of 31.7°C was crossed. The previous record (30.6°C) also dates from 2015.
“Not so frequent”
Elsewhere in France, even without a record, the temperatures were much higher than that of a usual month of May. In Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze), Dun (Ariège), Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) or Lyon (Rhône), the mercury exceeded 30°C. That is more than 10°C above seasonal norms.
In Accous (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) or Vichy-Ville (Allier), there are even temperatures 13 ° C higher than usual.
How to explain such data? Météo France estimates that they are due to a warm and stable air dome. Forecasters anticipate that the 30 ° C threshold will again be exceeded next week in Île-de-France, but also in New Aquitaine and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Meanwhile, a decrease in values is expected from Thursday before a further rise this weekend.
“Without being the exceptional one, an episode of heat as expected next week, early and lasting, is still not so frequent”, detail the specialists of Météo France.
This type of episodes is likely to multiply in the years to come due to global warming. They may even settle earlier and earlier in the spring.