New Heatwave Grips France – Soils Drier Than Ever

Paris – 11/08/2026: France is facing a further intensification of the heatwave that has continued since the end of July. Météo-France expects extreme temperatures across large parts of the country from Wednesday, 12 August, to Friday, 14 August. Temperatures of 35 to 39 degrees are likely to be widespread on Thursday, with up to 40 degrees possible locally. Cooler air is expected to reach the Atlantic and English Channel coasts first on Friday; in the east, it is likely to remain very hot.

According to the national weather service, the heat spell that began on 28 July is the third nationwide heatwave of 2026. Following a temporary drop in temperatures on Monday, values will rise sharply again on Tuesday, especially in the west. Temperatures above 36 degrees are already expected in Pays de la Loire, southern Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Mediterranean region and the lower Rhone Valley.

The high temperatures are hitting exceptionally dry soils. On 6 August, Météo-France reported nationwide record levels of soil dryness. Isolated thunderstorms and the temporary cooling since the beginning of the month have done little to change this. The water shortage has reportedly persisted since early June and now affects the entire French territory. For agriculture and vegetation, this means additional stress, while the risk of wildfires grows with every further hot day.

With a nationwide average temperature of 24.9 degrees, July 2026 was the warmest month since French records began in 1900. The monthly average was 3.8 degrees above the 1991 to 2020 reference value; for maximum temperatures, the deviation was 5.2 degrees. At the same time, the national average saw almost 70 percent less rainfall than usual.

By the end of July, near-surface soils were already as dry as they would normally be only by mid-August 2022, when the previous low point was recorded. Low rainfall, intense sunshine and high temperatures accelerate evaporation. Dry vegetation can also catch fire more easily and promote its spread.

The situation extends far beyond France. At the end of July, the European Copernicus drought observatory continued to assess conditions in Western and Central Europe, parts of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Italy as critical. In western parts of the continent, soil moisture levels in July were significantly below those recorded during the drought summer of 2022, according to an assessment published on 10 August.

Copernicus had already classified June as the warmest June ever recorded in Western Europe. The regional average temperature was 3.06 degrees above the 1991 to 2020 average. France’s previous heatwave lasted a total of 16 days, from 4 to 19 July; on 12 July, the highest heat warning level was in force in 37 departments.