France heatwave sets another late-summer temperature record / Photo: © AFP
France heatwave sets another late-summer temperature record
France this week recorded its hottest late-summer day ever, breaching the record yet again in the now-ebbing heatwave, weather authorities said Friday.
The nationwide average temperature over 24 hours hit 27.8 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit) on Thursday August 24, Meteo France announced, the most intense heat ever measured after August 15 in records going back to 1947.
That record had been breached four days in a row, Meteo France added.
France's previous record had been set only on Tuesday as a "heat dome" bore down on much of the country, hitting the southern half and Mediterranean coast especially hard.
But conditions were already easing on Friday, with high temperatures giving way to summer storms across parts of France.
None of the 96 departments in mainland France and Corsica were on the maximum red alert level for heat at the end of the week, compared with 17 on Thursday.
Temperatures of up to 39 C were nevertheless expected in the south.
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C.Stevenson--TNT
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