The heat wave progresses and extends north and east of the country. In the Hexagon, 33 departments were placed on alert orange. According to Meteo France, the episode looks "much less severe than in 2003", when 15,000 people died.France 2 (video)Dispatch (text)
AFP - The heat wave that hit Friday the southwest of France lies in the center of the country Saturday with temperatures that can exceed 40 degrees between the Garonne and the Loire, but with no effect reported so far on health of the population.
Temperature records were broken or should be during the weekend, with highs sometimes never reached a second half of August, and sometimes the whole of August, according to Météo France.The heat wave has its premises in Paris
Meteo France described the Saturday morning event "episode of very hot, much less severe than in 2003, but require special vigilance especially for people sensitive or exposed."
A heatwave plan was activated in 23 departments to coordinate the community, health services and facilities for the elderly, to help the most vulnerable to fight against dehydration, to avoid the tragedies of summer 2003 .
The heat wave had crushed the country for the first fortnight of August 2003. The excess mortality was then estimated at 15,000 people.
Meteo France placed in amber alert 21 departments: Haute-Garonne, Gers, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne in the southwest and Burgundy (Yonne, Côte-d'Or, and Nièvre Saone-et-Loire) Limousin (Corrèze, Creuse and Haute-Vienne), and the Allier, Charente, the Cher, the Dordogne, the Indre, Loire, Puy de Dome and the Rhone.
Heatwave plans concerning these 21 departments and the Isere and the Charente-Maritime.
Midi-Pyrenees temperatures reached over 37 degrees to 39 degrees Friday culminating in the Tarn-et-Garonne Castelsarrasin.
Nursing homes have taken steps to refresh and moisturize the most of their residents and in major cities, including Toulouse, Montauban and Cahors, distributions of water to vulnerable people or the homeless were organized.
According to information gathered on Saturday morning from the firefighters and the regional prefecture, there were still further any emergency incident linked to the heatwave.
Health risks after three days
"The elderly, it was only after three or four days they will have symptoms," explained Friday the head of the medical home CHU Purpan in Toulouse. "We may see the world come Monday or Tuesday because it must be two to three days for difficulty in breathing develops" declared Saturday to be echoing hospital emergency north of Marseille.
The heat wave "sets up the first part of next week and will progress to the north and east of the country", stated Meteo France Saturday morning.
Maximum temperatures "will be a little up" Saturday in the southwest, between 37 and 40 degrees to 41-42 degrees climb up locally (on the Dordogne and the Lot in particular).
It is in the Centre, Burgundy, northern Auvergne and the Lyonnais, less affected on Friday that the expected warming is a "spectacular".
Temperatures will be the same order of magnitude as those in the south-west, with peaks up to 40 degrees possible in the afternoon and minimum temperatures in late night from Saturday to Sunday slipping and sliding down to 20/22 degrees.
Maximum temperatures will continue Sunday and Monday will lose a few degrees, while remaining at a high level.
Besides the children and the elderly, people who work outdoors and sports are most at risk of dehydration.
Friday night at the L1 football match Lille-Nancy, the referee held a drinks break in the middle of each half Saturday and rugby matches and football games were postponed late in the afternoon.
Drought associated with the heat also makes the task of firemen. Those who managed Friday to control the fire of 650 acres of forest near Lacanau (Gironde) must maintain and Saturday an important means to prevent re-ignition.
