France issues 'red alert' over heatwave in southern regions

A runner jogs past a city sign indicating heatwave in Lyon, on 18 August, 2023. AFP - OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE

France has issued a "red alert" for four southern regions amid a spell of excessively hot weather, with temperatures expected to peak at 41 degrees Celsius in the Rhone valley.

France's most serious alert, issued on Monday, allows local authorities to call off sporting or cultural events and close public facilities if needed.

The departments targeted by the alert, which became effective at 1600 local time, are Rhone, Drome, Ardeche and Haute-Loire, Meteo France said.

Screengrab from Meteo France, the offical French meteorological website. © meteofrance screengrab

It was the sixth time the French meteorological service has triggered a red alert, part of the government's programme to protect the population during periods of extreme weather, and the first such incidence this year.

"We are prepared for this sort of meteorological event. We are just beefing up prevention," Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau told reporters. "Our message to the population is one of maximum vigilance."

At this stage French hospitals were not witnessing "any extremely massive" rise in the number of people seeking emergency care for heat-related illnesses, he added.

Aurélien Rousseau, ministre de la Santé sur la canicule: "On doit s'habituer à vivre avec ces chaleurs extrêmement fortes" pic.twitter.com/44eIe8RtyJ

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) August 21, 2023

Earlier on Monday, Meteo France issued an orange alert for half of the country's territory, saying temperatures will reach between 35 and 38 C in most of the affected departments. Peaks of 41 Celsius were expected in the southwest and in the Rhone valley.

Temperatures are expected to rise to between 40 and 42 Celsius on Tuesday afternoon in the southern departments of Ardeche, Drome, Vaucluse and Gard, Meteo France said.

A man refreshes his face with water from a public fountain in Paris on August 21, 2023, as the red heatwave vigilance is activated in four departments, a sign of a "long-lasting" episode that is also affecting 49 departments in a large southern half, still under orange vigilance. AFP - MIGUEL MEDINA

Separately, French power company EDF said it extended the outage at its 1.3-gigawatt Golfech 2 nuclear reactor in south-western France on Monday because river water used to cool the reactor had surpassed maximum temperatures due to the heatwave.

Some technical issues at the reactor also played a role in delaying the restart to Aug. 25, an EDF spokesperson said. The reactor has been offline since 27 March and had been scheduled to restart on Sunday.

Water temperature levels for cooling purposes at the Bugey plant and another reactor along the Rhone river in the southeast were also seen surpassing the government's guidance by 24 August, Refinitiv data showed.

EDF had previously announced production warnings at the Bugey plant.

(with newswires)