France prepares for fresh heatwave as Paris opens canal for swimmers

PARIS: France was preparing for another spell of intense heat on Wednesday, with temperatures expected to rise sharply across the country and authorities in Paris allowing supervised swimming in part of a city canal to help residents cope.

The latest hot weather period will be the second this year. It follows an unusually severe week in May that broke temperature records in around half of France. According to Christelle Robert of the national weather service Meteo-France, hot conditions are set to spread progressively nationwide during the week.

Forecasts indicated temperatures could reach 36C to 37C in some areas on Wednesday, before climbing as high as 40C in certain regions on Sunday. The peak is expected as France marks the summer solstice with its annual nationwide music event, La Fete de la Musique.

Paris opens canal access early

In the French capital, swimming was due to be permitted from Wednesday evening in one section of Canal Saint-Martin in the eastern part of Paris, under lifeguard supervision. The measure was announced by deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire on Tuesday evening after young people entered the canal during last month’s extreme heat.

Explaining the decision, Gregoire said it made little sense to deploy large resources to prevent people from entering the water during very high temperatures, while also warning that diving from bridges remained dangerous and was still banned.

"Spending an enormous amount of energy, municipal police, and national police to stop young people from swimming when it was 40 degrees... struck us as slightly absurd," he said.

Alexandra Cordebard, the mayor of Paris’s 10th district, said opening the canal to swimmers ahead of the previously planned July schedule represented an effort to adapt the city to climate change.

More swimming areas planned

Later in the summer, designated swimming spots will also be available along the Seine River. The river reopened to swimmers last summer for the first time in a century after Paris invested more than one billion euros, or about $1.15 billion, to make the water clean enough for use during the 2024 Olympics.

Scientific studies and expert bodies have linked increasingly frequent heatwaves in Europe to climate change. Meteo-France says that of the 51 heatwaves recorded across the country since 1947, 34 have taken place since 2000 and 26 since 2011. The United Nations has also warned that global average temperatures are likely to remain at or near record highs this year and over the following four years.