Thermometers recorded particularly high temperatures at the start of the week everywhere in France, sometimes rising above 40°C. While 13 departments are still placed in heat wave orange vigilance in the South-East of France, many households have noticed power cuts.

This problem is “always linked to the lasting heat wave” Enedis told BFM Marseille Provence, before continuing: “The high temperatures accumulated for several weeks, with high temperatures that do not drop at night, continue to raise temperature of tarred floors. This can put a lot of stress on underground electrical networks”.

Indeed, the underground network is made to withstand “internal temperatures” of 90°C, explained Enedis to Liberation. After several days of heat wave, the temperature does not drop below 20°C at night, the tarred floors retain the heat and this can damage these networks.

“The scorching heat stored in the tarred soils, added to a high electricity consumption, puts in effect the stress on the 20,000 volt underground electric cables” continued the manager of the public electricity network. These difficulties encountered by the electricity networks would explain the multiple cuts faced by many households.

These cuts affect the municipalities, but also and above all the big cities like Paris or Marseille, still under a wave of strong heat. “France is currently facing a very intense heat wave. This exceptional episode generated, on the electricity network, localized incidents distributed in various regions in France, in particular in Ile-de-France, and in dense urban areas” confirmed Enedis. In Marseille, several thousand households have seen power cuts, more than 10,000 in June, confirmed BFM. Inconveniences that the French would do without, who are already faced with a rise in the price of electricity.

If these cuts require human intervention to restore power, a return to normal is to be expected at the same time as the end of the heatwave episode.