France’s 11-day, record-breaking heatwave, has finally ended, as much of the country prepared for rainy weather on Tuesday and Wednesday.
After 11 days of intense heat in France, no parts of the country were under serious heatwave warnings on Tuesday morning, as temperatures finally began to cool down and storm clouds rolled in.
Five départements (Herault, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes) – all located along the Mediterranean coast – were still listed on Météo France’s ‘yellow’ (lowest level) heat warning.
Forecasters warned that even though the official heatwave (canicule) was over, nighttime temperatures were still high, reaching up to 25C in some areas along the coast.
These areas were expected to drop down to the regular ‘green’ status by 7am on Wednesday.
Météo France forecasters expect rainstorms across much of the country, with storms expected to be severe in the south.
The weather service warned that some areas could see heavy rainfall in a short period and that the départements of Gard, Hérault, Lozère are on orange (second-highest alert) for thunderstorms later in the day on Tuesday.
The rainy weather was also expected to continue on Wednesday across much of France, gradually moving east-ward.
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End of the heatwave
The heatwave, which began on August 8th and lasted 11 days, saw numerous temperature records broken across much of south-western and central-eastern France.
Angoulême in Charente recorded its highest ever temperature of 41.2C, while the city of Bordeaux beat its previous temperature record, reaching 41.6C and Bergerac in Dordogne reached 42.1C.
READ MORE: MAP: Which French towns beat their heat records this August?
In Toulouse, temperatures exceeded 35C for 10 consecutive days.
Meanwhile, 266 weather stations recorded a temperature of or above 40C between August 9th and 12th, representing a larger number than the total number of 40C or higher days (235 days) recorded during the entire second half of the 20th century.