(Adnkronos) – France is at the center of one of the planet’s major thermal anomalies, with temperatures often 10-15°C above the seasonal average, and locally up to 20°C. This was announced by the broadcaster La Chaîne Météo, which speaks – for today – of the country with the largest temperature deviation in the world compared to the climatic average, with a national surplus of 11°C.
The exceptional heat peaks recorded in the country led to the closure of 1,352 primary and secondary schools today. Another 4,042 “made adjustments,” said National Education Minister Édouard Geffray, referring to specially chosen schedules and classrooms. “The vast majority” of high school graduates will take their oral exams at the scheduled time, but due to the heatwave, 5,233 candidates have been recalled this morning or next, Édouard Geffray added. “For the next three days, the vast majority of students who will have to take” an oral exam “will take it at the time specified in their summons.”
The Île-de-France railway network, the north-central region where Paris is located, is particularly affected by the wave of anomalous temperatures. Currently, one in 10 trains is canceled on all lines. “Preventive cancellations concern some trains in the morning and evening to preserve infrastructure and equipment during this exceptional period,” states Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM). Trains that cannot run “are those traveling on more overheated tracks or older trains,” said Valérie Pécresse during a visit to the operational center of Saint-Lazare station in Paris.
The heatwave is also causing a “30% to 40%” increase in the number of calls to emergency services, Samu-Sas, and a “10-20%” increase in emergency room visits, facilities that are currently “holding up,” according to a representative of emergency room doctors. This weekend and today, “we are receiving a very high number of calls,” an increase of “30-40% of usual activity nationwide,” but the organization of Samu-SAS – which combines emergency doctors and community medicine – makes it possible at this stage to manage them and “protect emergency services,” declared Prof. Louis Soulat, head of the Rennes emergency department and a board member of the Samu-Urgences de France (Sudf) union.
