Already strained by high temperatures, France is now facing suffocating conditions under a heat dome. On Friday, June 27, the heatwave intensified and will settle in for several days, with local peaks reaching up to 40°C. This is a continuation of the heatwave that began on June 19 − the 50th such episode in mainland France since 1947. The phenomenon has only strengthened, making it unusually early, long and intense – though not unprecedented.
The first peak occurred on June 21 and June 25 with highs up to 38°C due to a high-pressure system trapped between two low-pressure zones. "The drop in temperatures on Thursday [June 26] after the storms was not significant enough to fall below the heatwave criteria," explained Tristan Amm, a forecaster at Météo-France, the country's official meteorological service.
The mechanism behind this new spike in temperatures is different: A strong anticyclone has settled over Western Europe, creating a "direct connection with the very hot and dry air from North Africa," said Christophe Cassou, a climatologist at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) who works at the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory. This high-pressure area is accompanied by strong subsidence − or, in other words, a downward movement of air that heats the atmosphere as it is compressed.
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