PARIS — France on Monday afternoon issued a “red alert,” its most critical warning, for 4 southern areas amid a spell of excessively scorching climate, with temperatures anticipated to peak at 41 levels Celsius (106 levels Fahrenheit) within the Rhone valley.
The departments focused by the alert, which permits native authorities to name off occasions and shut public amenities if wanted, are the Rhone, Drome, Ardeche and Haute-Loire, Meteo France mentioned. The alert grew to become efficient at 1600 native time.
It was the sixth time the French meteorological service triggered the pink alert—a part of the federal government’s program to guard the inhabitants in periods of utmost climate—and the primary such incidence this yr.
Earlier on Monday, Meteo France had issued an orange alert for half of the nation’s territory, saying temperatures will attain between 35°C and 38°C (95°F to 100°F) in many of the affected departments. Peaks of 41°Celsius have been anticipated within the southwest and within the Rhone valley. Temperatures are anticipated to rise to between 40°C and 42°C (104°F and 108°F) on Tuesday afternoon within the southern departments of Ardeche, Drome, Vaucluse and Gard, Meteo France mentioned.
Separately, French energy firm EDF mentioned it prolonged the outage at its 1.3-gigawatt Golfech 2 nuclear reactor in south-western France on Monday as a result of river water used to chill the reactor had surpassed most temperatures as a result of heatwave.
Some technical points on the reactor additionally performed a task in delaying the restart to Aug. 25, an EDF spokesperson informed Reuters. The reactor has been offline since March 27 and had been scheduled to restart on Sunday.
Water temperature ranges for cooling functions on the Bugey plant and one other reactor alongside the Rhone river within the southeast have been additionally seen surpassing the federal government’s steering by Aug. 24, Refinitiv knowledge confirmed. EDF had beforehand introduced manufacturing warnings on the Bugey plant. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
