France is experiencing a new particularly intense heat wave and temperatures are rising across a large part of the territory. But in which city was the absolute heat record recorded in France? In a small town, the thermometer reached an unprecedented level not so long ago…
Some expected him like the messiah, many feared him like the plague: the heat wave is hitting a large part of France with nearly twenty departments on heatwave yellow vigilance according to Météo France and more than 10 degrees above seasonal norms at the start of the week. But which city in France holds the historic heat record?
A “early and remarkable heat episode, affecting the west of the country and inner Paris“falls on the country, indicates Météo France in its bulletin of May 25. With temperatures of 32°C to 35°C, records are reached”for the end of May in Rennes, Brest, Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux or Agen“. As the mercury rises, the French take out their summer clothes and take refuge in the shade in the parks, in the cool at the cinema or go for a swim in the swimming pool while others simply complain about the sometimes unbreathable air in the streets.
And to get through this heat wave in the best conditions, everyone has their own tips: open your windows only at night to let the air into your home, invest in portable fans or mobile air conditioners, opt for misters, place a damp sheet in front of your window to capture the heat, arrange plants to cool your interior or even treat yourself to a getaway to a cooler place, especially this city which is the best place to live against the heatwave.
But did you know that the official absolute heat record in the world was reached in the Death Valley region, more precisely in Furnace Creek, California? At the time, on July 10, 1913, the temperature recorded was 56.7°C according to the World Meteorological Organization.
In mainland France, this record is held by Vérargues, a small town in Hérault, in Occitanie, with a temperature recorded at 46°C. And rather worryingly, it is particularly recent since it dates from June 28, 2019. The previous national record was held by Conqueyrac, in Gard, with a temperature of 44.1°C during the heatwave of 2003.
And at what temperature is it considered dangerous to go outside? If there is no fixed threshold not to be exceeded, since humidity, wind or even the age of the person are factors to take into account, we can consider that from 30 degrees, the heat can be very difficult to bear in direct sunlight, especially for an elderly person. But overall, when the mercury is 45 degrees or higher, it becomes dangerous to stay outside, even for a healthy adult.
