{"id":467436,"date":"2026-05-26T07:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/467436\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T07:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:58:09","slug":"record-high-may-temperatures-sweep-across-france-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/467436\/","title":{"rendered":"Record-high May temperatures sweep across France \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 20 towns in France have recorded their highest-ever May temperatures and the United Kingdom set a national heat record amid an extreme early-summer heat event <\/a>that could mean the mercury climbs to 40 degrees in parts of Spain by the end of the week.<\/p>\n

The United Kingdom\u2019s meteorological office said the country\u2019s all-time record for May was broken when a temperature of 33.5 degrees was recorded at Heathrow near London, with highs of up to 35 degrees expected on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Hundreds more May records <\/a>are likely to be set in France, Spain and the UK, said forecasters, with temperatures exceeding norms by 12 or 13 degrees in what M\u00e9t\u00e9o France described as a \u201cpremature, remarkable and long\u201d heat episode expected to last several more days.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland weather: All you need to knowOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

France\u2019s national weather agency said the record temperatures were caused by a heat dome, with hot air from Morocco trapped under an area of high pressure, adding that Europe could expect such events \u201cmore and more often, more and more intense, and earlier and earlier\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TouristsTourists shelter from the hot weather beneath an umbrella on Westminster Bridge, central London. Photograph: James Manning\/PA <\/p>\n

Models have already estimated that, with the effects of climate breakdown, June heatwaves are now about 10 times more likely in Europe than they were in the pre-industrial era, and the same trajectory is becoming visible for May. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis extension of the heatwave season is entirely characteristic of the effects of climate change,\u201d Robert Vautard, a climate researcher, told Agence France-Presse. \u201cEventually, we will be seeing similar heat events in April and October.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirty-one French d\u00e9partements have been placed on high-temperature alert until Tuesday, including eight on level orange, the second highest, requiring residents to \u201ctake precautions\u201d. It was the first time the country\u2019s national heat warning system had been activated during May <\/a>since it was introduced in 2004.<\/p>\n

M\u00e9t\u00e9o France said in a bulletin on Monday that temperatures could climb locally to 36 degrees. \u201cTowns in the west of the country are likely to see temperatures several degrees higher than ever recorded in May,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe French weather service placed the capital under a yellow alert with temperatures forecast to reach 35 degrees across the region. Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Among France\u2019s larger cities, Paris hit 32.6 degrees on Sunday and is expected to reach 33 degrees on Monday, while Bordeaux sweltered in 34.2 degrees. The southwestern town of Brive-la-Gaillarde registered 35.3 degrees, nearly two degrees hotter than its previous May record.<\/p>\n

A man died during a 10km running race in the Paris suburb of Maisons-Alfort on Sunday, civil defence services said, reportedly after suffering a heart attack, while 10 more runners had to be taken to hospital in critical condition after the race.<\/p>\n

Previous May highs were exceeded locally on Sunday all along France\u2019s Atlantic coast at weather stations including St-Nazaire, where 31.8 degrees was recorded, Noirmoutier (31.3 degrees) and Brest in Brittany (29 degrees), said the national weather agency.<\/p>\n

The hot spell in Spain \u2013 where temperatures in some southern areas hit 38 degrees over the weekend, between 5-10 degrees higher than normal \u2013 is also expected to continue through the week, said Rub\u00e9n del Campo of the state meteorological office Aemet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other really notable thing is that the situation is going to last until at least the end of the week. In fact, it could get even hotter on Thursday and Friday, with temperatures of at least 34 degrees across most of the country,\u201d said del Campo.<\/p>\n

Widespread highs <\/a>of 36-38 degrees in the Guadiana, Guadalquivir and Ebro valleys are expected between Wednesday and Friday, he added, noting that \u201cin some of those areas, temperatures could reach 40 degrees\u201d.<\/p>\n

Del Campo also said much of the country could expect so-called \u201ctropical nights\u201d, in which the night-time temperature does not drop below 20 degrees.<\/p>\n

Parts of the United Kingdom could enter a heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 26-28 degrees \u2013 depending on the location \u2013 for three days. In France, night-time temperatures must also stay above a certain level for an official heatwave to be declared. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 20 towns in France have recorded their highest-ever May temperatures and the United Kingdom set a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,1814,61,60,82,1577],"class_list":["post-467436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-france","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}