Paris, Aug 19 (EFE).- An orange alert was declared Saturday in 28 of the 100 in France departments in France, with temperatures expected to reach 39 degrees in the lower course of the Rhone Valley.
The meteorological service Meteo France, which has activated the alert across an area from the foot of the Pyrenees to the Alps and the borders with Switzerland and Germany, underlined that minimum temperatures did not drop below 20 degrees in many cities the previous night.
At 5am, the thermometer read 25 degrees in Bourgoin, 24 in Clermont Ferrand and Moulin, and 23 in Toulouse and Lyon. However, the north of France is yet to be affected by the heatwave so far.
Meteo France expects the maximum temperature during the day to hover around 34-38 degrees in central and southern parts of the country, mainly Jura, Auvergne, Rhone-Alpes, Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Corsica, and a little higher in the Rhone valley.
On Saturday night, the minimum temperatures are expected to stay around 20-23 degrees in the areas under orange alert, while the mercury could peak up to 35-38 degrees the following and even cross 40 again in the Rhone Valley.
The country will experience the peak of the heatwave, marking the highest temperatures this summer, between Monday and Wednesday next week, according to Meteo France.
The state electricity provider EDF has cautioned that its two nuclear plants along the Rhone River in eastern France might need to curtail power generation starting this weekend due to the persisting heatwave in the region.
In northern France, the weather service anticipates relatively normal conditions, with temperatures reaching up to 35 degrees.
While in Paris the temperature could touch 33 degrees, and in regions like Brittany and Normandy it might not exceed 25 degrees.
The temperatures are likely to subside from Thursday onwards.
France has witnessed two heatwaves this summer; the first between July 7-13 and the second lasting from July 17 to 26. EFE
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