People on France's Indian Ocean island of Réunion have been warned to stock up on essential supplies and prepare to stay indoors as a powerful cyclone barrels in. Réunion will be on red alert from 8pm local time on Sunday until most likely Tuesday morning, the French department's prefect, Jérôme Filippini, told a press conference."Everyone must stay inside in a safe place," he said.The cyclone, dubbed Belal, is expected to reach the island overnight on Sunday and into Monday.National weather ser
France has issued heatwave warnings for half of all mainland counties, including 19 maximum "red alerts". RFI explains how the French system works and what the different alert levels mean in practice. Most of the south of France is in the grip of an intense, long-lasting and unusually late heatwave, according to national weather service Météo France, which is forecasting record temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius.Authorities placed 67 of 96 mainland counties, or departments, on heatwave ale
France is set to experience another summer heatwave over the coming days – forecast to be the hottest of the season – with Météo-France on Friday placing 19 departments on orange alert. According to Météo-France, "This weekend, hot weather is set to intensify, particularly in the southern half of the country. It looks set to be long-lasting and intense, with values sometimes in excess of 40°C in the southeast from Sunday onwards . [and] are expected to continue until at least the middle of nex