The Heatwave is Gaining Ground: 40°C Expected, around Forty Departments on Alert… This Saturday’s Forecast

The heatwave continues to be felt in the south of the country and is gaining ground almost everywhere else across France, this Saturday 8th August 2026.

Twelve departments in the center-east and south-east will be on orange alert for heatwave saturday 8th August 2026 and Sunday, according to the latest Météo-France bulletin, which notably forecasts heat peaks in the southwest and along the Rhône valley.

There Savoy and there Haute-savoie, isère and the Rhône will enter orange alert for extreme heat from midday, indicates the forecaster in his bulletin published at 6:00 a.m.

In the Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Drôme, Gard, Var, Vaucluse as well as in the two departments of Corsica, the orange alert already in force on Friday will be maintained throughout this weekend.

30 departments in yellow

In addition, 30 departments are also on yellow alert.

These are:

Ain
Allier
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Ariège
Aude
Aveyron
Bouches-du-Rhône
Cantal
Corrèze
Côte-d’Or
Dordogne
Doubs
Gers
Gironde
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Saône
Hautes-Alpes
Hérault
Jura
Landes
Loire
Lot
Lot-et-Garonne
Lozère
Puy-de-Dôme
Pyrénées-Orientales
Saône-et-Loire
Tarn
Tarn-et-Garonne
Territoire de Belfort

Almost 40 degrees

“Saturday, the heat is increasing almost everywhere in the country“, warns Météo-france, with peaks around 38°C in the southwest and along the Rhône valley. ”

The maximums are increasing, in particular, in the South-West. 30 degrees will once again be exceeded in almost the entire country, excluding the Channel coast, with 34 to 38 degrees in the south of the country and even locally 38 or 39 in Midi-Pyrénées, and 39 to 40 in Gard.
Météo-France