Catherine Field: France Correspondent on the Health Department issuing a red danger alert due to the heatwave
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What is the current heatwave situation in France?
Catherine Fields with us. Catherine, how are you?
I'm a bit hot, but fine otherwise.
Thank you, Mike. Let me come to the heat in a moment, but while I've introduced Starmer, what's the EU thinking of this? Are we resetting? Is it Brexit undone? What's Burnham mean to Britain, to the EU?
They don't know. They just don't know.
How is the French Health Department responding to the heatwave?
I mean, they were really very pleased with Starmer. He, of course, had reset negotiations with the EU. He'd been talking about Some of the issues that are coming up day in, day out, such as student mobility, agriculture, to the point where that actually set up a special EU-UK summit. Well, they're saying it's postponed, but it's actually been cancelled because they just do not have any idea about the intentions of... the possibility of an Andy Burnham prime minister. Of course, Burnham will have to get his whole team together, a negotiating team, work out a strategy. So you're a little bit unhappy. Also, the other point that the EU was quite happy with Starmer, and they're hoping this will continue.
is that he's really been on their side when it comes to things like the Middle East, Iran, Ukraine, and also transatlantic relations.
What are the potential dangers of the extreme heat in Europe?
So they feel that these were important points that he was on side on, whether they will continue, big question mark there. And also coming up, Mike, is, of course, that 7th of July NATO summit in Turkey. Yeah. Starmer's going to be going to that probably. Lame duck. What will he say? Will it really matter?
Yeah, good question. I can hear your air conditioning so clearly. What temperature are you running right at the moment as we speak?
How does the heatwave compare to previous years?
32.5.
Wow. And it's what time you've got? 10 to 9?
10 tonight, and it might go down to 24.2 overnight. Now, the reason why the temperatures aren't going down that much overnight is, of course, we've just come out of the summer solstice. It's the first day after the summer solstice. So the nights are really very short here. They don't get at all. The temperature does not go down.
What measures are being taken to protect vulnerable populations?
When you look across the country, it's pretty much the same. You've got this. The health department has put out this red danger alert. That means that there's a danger to life if you go out. It's in place in 54 departments. That's about 38 million people in mainland France are now having to live under this. They say it will get worse. And it won't just get worse here in France, it'll get also worse in Germany and parts of Spain and Italy. They say that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the temperatures will go up and we could even see the highest ever temperature on record in France, probably Wednesday but possibly Tuesday.
Is it seasonal in the sense it's getting earlier or does it just appear to me to be getting earlier?
How are agricultural impacts being felt due to the heat?
It is getting earlier. Remember, we had that big heat wave last month and earlier this month. That was so much earlier than usual. And it's also getting fiercer. We remember back in 2003 when they had that big heat wave and 15,000 people died. That was already in August. And that is why they put in a lot in place, a lot of arrangements for towns. They have to open up schools. They have to let people decide when they let their schools. Old people's homes have to have air con, that sort of thing.
What does the future hold for temperatures in France?
That was much later, but now it is much earlier. And of course, it's having that knock on effect. The crops have just come back from Normandy. The crops are already ripe there. Usually they harvest sort of August, September. They're already harvesting some of the cereals up there. So it's having a knock-on effect right across, and the unfortunate thing is they keep saying, do not expect, even after the end of this week, do not expect a slow retreat. It's going to be like this for a few more weeks.
All right, well, stay cool. Appreciate your time. Catherine Field in France for us this morning. Just war-related quickly, by the way, Crimea. I meant to get to this yesterday, but I didn't have time. Anyway, Crimea stopped selling petrol. It seems the war has turned materially. Zelensky's on the offensive. Crimea's in trouble. They've been short of fuel before, but because of the attack the other day on some of the fuel facilities, they've had to pull the pin completely on fuel sales, apart from government agencies.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the current heatwave situation in France?
0:00–0:18
2
How is the French Health Department responding to the heatwave?
0:18–1:12
3
What are the potential dangers of the extreme heat in Europe?
1:12–1:39
4
How does the heatwave compare to previous years?
1:39–2:06
5
What measures are being taken to protect vulnerable populations?
2:06–2:49
6
How are agricultural impacts being felt due to the heat?
2:49–3:21
7
What does the future hold for temperatures in France?
3:21–4:36
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