The heat wave that has hit France since Thursday reached its peak on Monday, but the heat wave moves to the east of the country on Tuesday and 73 departments remain on orange alert. In Gironde, two gigantic fires, which are not yet under control, have already burned 19,000 hectares of vegetation.

Many local heat records were broken on Monday, Météo-France announced, during this heat wave, the second heat wave since June. According to the provisional values ​​taken at 5:00 p.m., the thermometer showed 39.3°C in Brest (against a previous record of 35.1°C in August 2003), 39.5°C in Saint-Brieuc (38 .1°C in August 2003), 42°C in Nantes (40.3°C in July 1949) or 42.6°C in Biscarrosse (41.7°C in June 2022).

The UK is also experiencing an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures likely to top 40C on Tuesday. This heat wave also affects all of Western Europe, also causing forest fires in Spain or Portugal.

The proliferation of extreme weather events is a direct consequence of climate change, according to scientists, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing in intensity, duration and frequency.

Meetings of the day:

• 11:30 a.m. | Magali Reghezza Zittgeographer, member of the Superior Climate Council, will answer your questions about how to adapt to climate change.
• 14 hours | Christophe Cassouclimatologist and lead author of the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Gaetan Heymes, Météo-France’s forecast engineer and snow expert will answer your questions.

Read our content on the heat wave, fires and global warming:

Narrative. In dry Verdon: “We are touching global warming. It’s rude”

Editorial. In the face of the climate emergency, a political response is not yet up to the task

Interview. Valérie Masson-Delmotte: “We were jogging slowly behind rapidly changing weather”

Reportage. Bouches-du-Rhône firefighters prepare for a “season in hell”

Testimonials. With the heat waves in France, many fall into eco-anxiety and worry about the future