A record-setting heat wave in France has seen an exasperated public get creative to cool off without air conditioners, while foreign tourists have described their hot Paris hotels as akin to “torture”.
Météo-France, the official French meteorological administration, said that Wednesday and Thursday were the hottest days on record in the country, with an average high temperature over the two days of 38.5 degrees Celsius (101 degrees Fahrenheit), while temperatures soared above 40°C (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places.
The soaring temperatures are set to continue throughout the weekend; however, thunderstorms are predicted to provide some relief. As of Friday, 61 departments across the country remained under a red heat wave alert, affecting 51 million people.
The sweltering heat has forced many young people to seek refuge in the water, with citizens in cities like Paris even taking to the industrial canals and the infamously dirty Seine River.
One French netizen responded to youngsters jumping in the river: “The Seine in Paris. You really have to be carefree to swim with the corpses of rats and syringes.”
Others were seen sleeping under the trees in municipal parks, seeking respite from the city’s radiating heat.
While the government has begun funding emergency air-conditioning in critical areas, such as hospitals and care homes, the nation remains largely at the mercy of the weather.
Just 24 per cent of households in France have air conditioners installed. This compares with 91 per cent in Japan, 90 per cent in the United States, 86 per cent in Saudi Arabia, 60 per cent in China, and even 56 per cent in Italy.
This has forced some creative thinking, with the Paris Fire Department being gifted 20 tonnes of ice to help cool down potential victims of the heatwave. Others have shown their makeshift cooling systems, often involving damp rags and fans.
Unsurprisingly, when air conditioners went on sale in supermarkets and department stores, shoppers were seen stampeding in to get their hands on a unit.
Tourists visiting the city of light on holiday were shocked to find that Paris was so ill-prepared to handle the heat, which is common in many places around the world during the summer.
One woman from Doha, Qatar, remarked to the local Le Figaro newspaper: “The weather is the same as here, but we have air conditioning everywhere, in all the buildings, in all the shops. There are even some that come out of the ground, in the streets.”
Two Italians travelling to Paris on business added: “In Italy, especially at this time of year, even the cheapest hotels are equipped… Too bad, this one is next to the Palais des Congrès, so we’re not going to bother changing now.”
A man from China said that on Chinese social media, many are warning others not to visit the city because hotels lack AC. “For me, it’s like torture. I can’t sleep without AC,” he said.
The paper said that they only found one tourist who was not complaining about the lack of modern amenities, a woman from Germany, where there are fewer air conditioners even than in France, at just six per cent of households.
Although the heatwave is notable for its intensity and for being so early in the summer, many French have apparently been convinced they should join the 21st century and finally begin installing air conditioners. Long a taboo — due to environmental and superstitious health concerns — 8 in 10 adults now say air conditioning should be installed as standard.
However, some are still resisting, with the government’s Minister of Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, saying on Friday: “I am horrified by people who tell me that we just need to put air conditioning everywhere. Do you think that will prevent a forest fire, that it will prevent a crop from failing, that it will prevent the death of animals? This is not an adaptation; it is an emergency measure.”
Others appear to be using the opportunity to clamp down on public freedoms, with the Paris police announcing that they would ban public alcohol consumption in the city due to the heat wave, claiming it was necessary to keep hospital beds open.
The heatwave has proved deadly in some cases; however, the vast majority of deaths appear to be from younger people drowning while swimming in unauthorised areas. According to Sports Minister Marina Ferrari, some 55 people have drowned so far during the heatwave this week. In context, 409 people drowned last year during the entire summer season.
The soaring temperatures have also forced the Solidays music festival and the Pride Parade march to be cancelled due to health concerns.
While authorities hope that storms over the weekend may break the spell, some have warned that a unique set of atmospheric factors appears to be driving Saharan desert dust towards France and literally turning the skies over Paris red amid the heatwave.