Weather: 31 departments on the alert thunderstorms and heat wave this afternoon

The respite was short-lived. Since Monday, extreme temperatures have settled again in France, drawing the fourth heatwave episode of an already extremely dry summer. Météo France thus places around thirty departments on alert for the risk of a heat wave, but also of thunderstorms in places.

“A new scorching heat wave, the 4th of this summer, is setting up from the south and will gradually reach the central regions before spreading northwards thereafter”, confirms the Weather Channel. According to forecasters, it is this Tuesday that the phenomenon should really gain momentum over a large part of the territory.

“This heat wave will mainly concern the southwest and the center-west of France, especially from Wednesday to Friday. The other regions, going towards the northeast, will remain within the heat thresholds but not a heat wave”, specifies the site.

A new episode of heat which raises fears, in any case, of the inevitable worsening of the drought, while France is already facing a critical situation.

To understand this phenomenon, scientists have been interested in the “double jet stream” effect which has blocked France and part of Western Europe for several weeks in a hot air mass. In the journal Nature, they explained that a jet stream is “a corridor of powerful winds circulating between cold air at high altitudes and warm subtropical air. A path traversing the northern hemisphere which has been deviated in recent years due to global warming.”, details the HuffPost.

Climate changes, therefore, which are not ready to stop.

Heat waves, thunderstorms…. Discover in our slideshow what awaits you today in your department*.

* according to the Météo France bulletin on 08/09/2022 at 7 a.m.