PARIS, Aug 7 (Reuters) – France is preparing for a fourth heat wave as it experiences historic drought, with many towns and cities facing shortages of drinking water.
The office of Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne set up an interministerial crisis unit on Friday to coordinate the necessary civil security measures such as the water supply to municipalities or the delivery of drinking water.
Temperatures are expected to reach 37C in the southwest of the country on Sunday, before the heat wave spreads across the country early next week.
“This new wave of heat is likely to be long-lasting”, indicated the Weather Channel on its website.
The drought currently affecting France, the most severe ever recorded since records began in 1958, is expected to worsen and last until the weekend of August 15, according to Mto France.
The Minister of Agriculture estimates that maize production will drop by 18.5% over one year and the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) has warned that the lack of fodder will have consequences on maize production. milk in the coming months.
EDF was forced to reduce the production of several nuclear reactors located in the southwest due to the high temperature of the Garonne.
Water restrictions are also in force on almost all of the territory in metropolitan France, in order to save water.
(Richard Lough report; French version Camille Raynaud)