This is episode 2 of the heatwave of summer 2019. This Monday, 22 July, marks the start of another spell of intense heat, with a significant rise in temperatures in the south. This is the second heatwave in less than a month "will spare few regions", according to Météo France. The mass of hot, dry air responsible for this dramatic rise in temperatures will gradually spread to northern France. The orange heatwave alert will therefore be extended rapidly.
Twenty-one departments on orange alert. These are the Ardèche, the Ariège, the Aveyron, the Charente, the Charente-Maritime, the Corrèze, the Dordogne, the Drôme, the Haute-Garonne, the Gers, the Gironde, the Isère, the Landes, the Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Rhône, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne and Haute-Vienne.
Warm temperatures late at night. Temperatures remained very mild from Occitanie to the Rhône Valley during the night from Sunday to Monday. At 5.00 am, the temperature was recorded at 25.8 °C in Narbonne, 23.6 °C in Lyon and 22.9 °C in Toulouse. However, north of the Loire, temperatures were still quite cool, mostly below 15 °C, although it was 18 °C in Paris.
Temperatures of up to 40 °C are expected. On Monday, temperatures will rise to between 36 and 38 °C in the plains of the south-west, in certain valleys of Auvergne and in the south of the Rhône-Alpes region. However, it is on Tuesday in particular that the heatwave will really take hold. Minimum temperatures will mostly range between 20 and 25 °C, whilst maximum temperatures will range between 36 and 40 °C.