France faces double weather alert: 7 departments on orange storm watch, 20 still under heatwave warning

Storm alert in the southwest

Seven departments in southwestern France were placed under an orange storm vigilance by Météo-France on Monday, 3 August, in a bulletin issued at 6 a.m. The departments are Dordogne, Corrèze, Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn, Haute-Garonne, and Ariège. The alert activates at 4 p.m. and is set to expire at midnight.

The forecaster described a "marked stormy deterioration" moving from the central Pyrenees toward the western Massif Central. Météo-France warned of "locally violent" phenomena, including intense electrical activity, medium to large hail, strong wind gusts near 100 km/h, and very heavy rainfall that could exceed 50 mm in one to two hours. The storm observatory Keraunos noted that the conditions are developing in a "still very hot and highly unstable subtropical air mass," with the most virulent storms expected from the Pyrenees up to the edges of the Centre and Burgundy regions.

“An initial wave of storms is currently setting up via the Bay of Biscay. Storm instability will be increasingly present during the day across a vast zone from the Pyrenees to the northeast.”

Heatwave persists in the southeast

Twenty departments in the east and southeast remain under an orange heatwave alert as of Monday morning. The list includes Ain, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Corse-du-Sud, Haute-Corse, Doubs, Drôme, Gard, Isère, Jura, Loire, Rhône, Saône-et-Loire, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Var, Vaucluse, and Territoire de Belfort.

Météo-France said the high temperatures should persist for a few more days in the southeast, even as a decline begins in some areas. Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence will drop to yellow vigilance on Monday at 10 p.m., while Loire and Saône-et-Loire will follow on Tuesday at 6 a.m. Overnight temperatures from Sunday to Monday stayed above 20°C across many regions, reaching up to 25°C in places along the Mediterranean coast and in the Rhône valley.

“The high temperatures should continue for a few more days in the southeast.”

Wildfire in the Var

Météo-France singled out the Var department, where a wildfire is still active amid the heatwave conditions. No further details on the fire's size or containment were provided in the Monday morning bulletins.

A divided country

Monday's weather map splits France into two contrasting zones. The southwest faces a sharp stormy breakdown that will lower temperatures, while the eastern half of the country remains locked under a lingering heat dome. The storm deterioration is expected to spread across a large part of the country during the afternoon and evening, with the most severe activity concentrated from the central Pyrenees to the western Massif Central.