Authorities in the metropolitan area of Paris have taken measures against air pollution related to the current wave of heat.
The prefecture of the Ile-De-France region announced on Wednesday that from Thursday from 05:30. Until midnight, the maximum speed limit will be reduced to 110 km/h on sections with a normal limit of 130 km/h, 90 km/h instead of 110 km/ha to 70 km/h instead of 80 or 90 km/h. In addition, the authorities recommended drivers to limit the use of cars and prefer car sharing, TASR said.
Expected smog situations
According to AirParif, which monitors the air quality in the region, the persistence of the smog situation caused by ozone is expected.
The France info news website added that in connection with extreme heat, five French departments remained in the highest, red alert – AUDE and four departments in the Rhône River valley: Wire, Isère, Rhône and Ardèche. From Thursday morning there should be a lower, orange alert.
Record temperatures
The heat wave is receding on the Atlantic coast, but it is moving to the northeast, while temperatures are expected to 40 degrees Celsius in Burgundy on Thursday. A total of 68 departments are currently in the orange warning against heat.
Several historical temperature records were again broken on Wednesday. The Météo-France service in its newsletter on Wednesday evening said that in Saint-Laurent-Du-Pape in the Ardèche and Saint-Côme-D’OLt in Aveyron measured a temperature of 42.9 degrees Celsius AV Romes-Sur-Isère in the area of the frame reached a temperature of 42.6 degrees.
Causes and impacts
“These very high temperatures are the result of a very warm air mass, but also the impact of climate change,” explained climatologist Lauriane Batté of Météo-France.
Significantly impaired air quality is also reported from the Bourgogne-Franche-com in the eastern part of France, where not only high air temperatures, but also a sand closed with wind from Sahara contributed to this.
Storms and warnings
Several regions in the south and in the central part of France on Wednesday evening reported heavy storms that were the result of high temperatures. Strong winds, heavy rain accompanied by hail caused material damage, trains delay and interruption of electricity supplies.
The France Web info recalled that France is expecting a prolonged weekend, accompanied by folk festivities, festivals and fireworks, on Friday’s feast of the Virgin Mary, – but these can be canceled for a great drought and a high risk of fire at the last minute as the authorities pointed out.
