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Temperatures of 35C forecast in Bordeaux, Rhône Valley next week
Highs of 33C across much of south as Brittany and Paris may see highs of 30C
Temperatures in south and south-west France are now forecast to hit 35C next week as a powerful high pressure weather system brings more intense conditions than first expected.
Forecasters already predicted the arrival of a long-lasting anticyclone weather system in the atmosphere above the country, bringing calm and sunny conditions.
Moving in via the south of France over the weekend, it will then quickly cover all of the country at the start of next week.
It is forecast to cover the country for up to two weeks, limiting rainfall during this period and bringing consistently calm and sunny weather, alongside warm temperatures, initially predicted to be up to 30C in the south.
However, updated models now point towards hotter temperatures than first thought, particularly in the south in the early and most intense part of the anticyclone pattern.
Highs of 35C are now possible at the start of next week in the Rhône Valley and Bordeaux area, with temperatures of 33C along the western Mediterranean coast, Occitanie, and central France also possible.
Temperatures in the north will also remain well above average, reaching potentially 30C in Brittany, Nantes, and around Paris.
Weather forecaster La Chaîne Météo (owned by Le Figaro) predicts that the national average temperature at the start of next week will reach 21.9C.
This is less than 1C from the recordings at the start of this week (22.7C), when several departments were under heatwave warnings.
A renewed bout of heatwave alerts remains unlikely. Despite temperatures rising considerably in the day, evening and overnight conditions will remain chilly and more akin to seasonal norms.
This will allow people and homes to cool down naturally in the evening, and prevent temperature thresholds for departmental alerts, which require both day- and night-time temperatures to reach certain levels for three consecutive days.
Lack of rain
Updated weather models point towards this blast of hot weather at the start of the anticyclone, but it does not look set to remain in place long enough for heatwave warnings to be issued.
Temperatures will drop from midweek next week onwards, remaining well above average for the season but unlikely to hit above 30C, except for the western Mediterranean.
However, the anticyclone will prevent rain falling until at least the start of the following week.
Aside from a few brief showers along the English Channel in the middle of the week, France should remain dry until at least September 21.
The dry conditions spell bad news for France’s deepening drought, with the country in desperate need of consistent rain this autumn to replenish historically low aquifers and reservoirs.
Several months of drought conditions and successive heatwaves have dried out soils, and a prolonged dry spell in September will only make it harder for soils to become permeable.
