France Confronts Heatwave, Violent Storms and Rising Wildfire Risk

Overview

• Météo‑France placed 21 departments in orange vigilance on Sunday for weather hazards, listing 13 departments for heat and 8 for severe storms while 65 departments carried yellow storm alerts and 37 were orange for forest‑fire risk.
• Violent convective storms struck the Pyrenees on Saturday evening with hail and wind gusts of 90–110 km/h, and forecasters warned new storm cells would hit the southwest later on Sunday.
• The Drôme wildfire at the massif du Claps has shown active re‑ignitions, has burned about 320 hectares, and involves roughly 400 personnel plus three helicopters in ongoing suppression efforts.
• The Gironde prefecture upgraded prevention to a very high level of vigilance and a separate fire at the Captieux military camp burned about 15 hectares overnight and was left to evolve because of unsafe terrain.
• EDF stopped the only operating reactor at Golfech on Saturday as Garonne river temperatures approached 28°C, and forecasts project the heatwave will strengthen midweek with many areas reaching 35°C and local peaks possibly near 40°C, raising risks for water‑cooled infrastructure and firefighting capacity.