‘It's 36 degrees - the village looks abandoned': Life in a French heatwave

Irish Times

a day ago

At 3pm it is
36 degrees
but feels like 38. The village of
Saint-Claud
looks as if it has been abandoned.
Step outside for just a second and the heat envelops you, pressing down with an unrelenting force so hot it feels as if your skin is already burning.
No wonder there is not a soul to be seen on the street, nor in the square, nor in the few shops, and a car is a rarity.
Everyone has retreated inside, behind the shutters that are closed over every window and door and which keep French houses cool. Outside, bees buzz around lavender bushes while lizards sunbathe, the only creatures enjoying the baking heat of the pavement.
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For more than a week, France has suffered through a record-breaking heatwave, part of the extreme heat that has seen temperatures in Spain and Portugal hit 46 degrees, deaths in Italy, wildfires in Turkey, and the closure of the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Monday was the hottest June day since records began, but Tuesday was expected to beat them again, with temperatures of 38-40 degrees forecast for most of the country.
Sixteen French departments, including central Paris, are under a red warning for heat – signifying an 'extreme' heatwave that is 'exceptional' in its size and duration and presents a strong threat to health, according to the national meteorological authority, Météo-France – with an orange warning elsewhere.
People have been instructed to remain indoors during the hottest part of the day, and some schools have closed and events have been cancelled. In this part of France, the prediction is 'the bar of 40-41 degrees could be crossed'.
The town hall in the village of Saint-Claud, Charente, France. Photograph: Freya McClements
No wonder, then, that life has been forced indoors. Those who can are up early, to do their shopping and physical tasks first thing in the morning before they take shelter for the day, including my parents John and Roberta, who in 2014 retired to Charente in southwest France from Castlerock, Co Derry.
'In the supermarket and in the boulangerie, the conversation has been all about the fact that it's only June. People are asking: 'What's it going to be like in August?,' my mother says.
In more than 30 years of spending the summer in France, she has 'never seen anything like this. Any of the other heatwaves were all mid-August. This started on June 19th, and we kept thinking there would be a respite, but there wasn't'.
In rural areas such as Saint-Claud, the mairie – or town hall – takes a hands-on approach. Someone was sent to check on a widowed friend of my parents', because she lives alone, to make sure she is feeling well and drinking enough.
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'It feels like swimming in soup': Irish in Europe describe life in heatwave
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In this age of human-driven
climate change
, there are lessons for Ireland in how France lives with hot weather.
The trees dotting the village square and lining the roads provide vital shade, while the construction of houses in the traditional manner means that, even without air conditioning, it is easier to sleep during this heatwave than it would be in high temperatures at home.
Yet such measures are far from enough to cope with France's soaring temperatures. Hospitals are on alert, and they will need to be. Imagine living in a tower block, or working outside, or being homeless in such heat; not everyone has the luxury of taking shelter.
This evening, the village and the country will come alive again. The bars and restaurants – especially those with a shaded terrace – will be full of people hoping for a cooler night, but fearing a summer of yet hotter days ahead.