Extreme cold: the 7 things not to do

This Monday, December 12, and until at least tomorrow, the departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, Haute-Loire and Haute-Savoie are placed under extreme cold yellow vigilance, d ‘after Meteo France. It is a little known and rarely triggered vigilance: it is in a way the equivalent of heat wave vigilance, but for the cold, as reported by our colleagues from the Midi Libre.

For such vigilance to be issued, several conditions must be met. It corresponds to a cold spell lasting at least 2 days. Persistent temperatures well below the seasonal average as well as the geographical extent of the cold snap are also conditions for issuing such vigilance.

In addition to the physical barriers that snowfall associated with an episode of extreme cold can represent, such episodes also represent, like their warm equivalent, health risks. Indeed, very low surrounding temperatures reduce the capacities of our body, and this often without us realizing it. Very cold weather can therefore kill some of them indirectly, by aggravating pathologies that are already present.

The elderly as well as newborns and infants are most at risk. Due, firstly, to their more fragile health, but also due to the fact that their perception of cold is diminished, and that they cannot, depending on the case, express the fact that they are cold. Another danger of extreme cold spells is carbon monoxide poisoning, which occurs due to malfunctions in heating systems, which are then generally used all the more.

Find below the 7 things not to do during an episode of extreme cold, according to the government website for prevention against the risks of extreme cold.