FRANCE: Temperatures in Paris soar to 32 degrees Celsius as the country is on a new heat-wave alert

Temperatures in Paris soared to 32 degrees Celsius on Monday (July 24) and should increase to 35 degrees by mid-week as a heatwave spreads to the north. The national weather service maintained a hot weather alert in 47 of the country's 96 mainland administrative departments, mainly in the south, east of the country and Paris. The heatwave has so far claimed the lives of an estimated 22 people, including a 15-month old baby. On the other victims, 10 were aged 80 or over, four collapsed at their workplace, two died while playing sport, two were homeless and one was an obese youth "in poor physical condition". The government resorted to an emergency planning system reserved for disasters to reinforce hospitals. "We want to see how we can still reinforce our health system. The stake is very clear : make sure that the emergency doctors are not the only one to be in the front line and above all if the situation develops", said Health Minister Xavier Bertrand at a meeting with presidents of doctors' associations. Patrick Pelloux, head of France's emergency doctors then added : "It is really up to everyone, you and all the population to be conscious and show solidarity with each other to try and avoid another disaster (referring to the 2003 heatwave). The messages of prevention must be passed on and be taken with sufficient vigilance. It's not time to be scared because the Health Minister took the necessary steps. It is essential to have a policy of prevention but also anticipate on the needs of the hospitals". Temperatures of well above 30 degrees Celsius have been registered across France over the past week and weather forecasters say the heatwave looks set to continue well into this week. However, it was not as hot as 2003, when around 15,000 mostly old people died in a heat wave that lasted less than a month. The high death toll stunned health authorities and local officials have worked hard to try to improve their response to heatwaves, supplying air conditioning to retirement homes and broadcasting constant informatiion on how to cope in the heat. Widespreak publicity campaigns have been launched to encourage the elderly and other vulnerable groups to drink plenty of water, at least 1,5 litre per day, and to spend some time every day in cool places such as airconditioned shops or cinema. Parisians and tourists enjoyed warm weather, soaking up the sun in parks and dipping into fountains near the Eiffel Tower. Some others seek the shade and water sprinklers in Paris's parks. On Sunday (July 23) France's government approved a request from electricity giant EDF to allow its nuclear reactors to discharge water used as a coolant into rivers at above normal temperatures because of a prolonged heatwave. The head at which water is discharged into rivers is controlled by law to protect plant and fish life and the heatwave was threatening to force some reactors to shut down. Much of Europe has been affected by the heatwave.

ITN Source | July 25, 2006

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