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France braced for its fourth heatwave of the summer on Sunday as the worst drought on record left arid villages without safe drinking water and farmers warned of a looming winter milk shortage.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s office has set up a crisis team to deal with a drought that has forced dozens of villages to rely on trucks for water, prompted state utility EDF to curb nuclear power output and put pressure on crops.
A fisherman is seen on the parched land on the shores of Lake Le Brock as a historic drought hits France on August 5, 2022. (Reuters/Eric Gaillard)
Temperatures are expected to hit 37C in the southwest on Sunday before the warm air that has baked in early this week spreads north.
“This new heat wave could start,” La Chaine Meteo, similar to U.S. cable service weather channelSay.
It was the worst drought since records began in 1958, and the drought is expected to last until at least the middle of the month, according to the national weather agency, Météo-France. On average, France receives less than 1 cm of rainfall in July.
This year’s maize harvest is expected to be 18.5% smaller than in 2021, the agriculture ministry said, just as food prices have risen for Europeans due to lower-than-normal grain exports from Russia and Russia Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions said feed shortages due to the drought meant milk shortages were likely in the coming months.
Nuclear operator EDF last week reduced power generation at a plant in southwest France due to high river temperatures in the Garonne and has issued a rolling warning for reactors along the Rhone.
Hot weather exacerbated the utility’s problems, with corrosion problems and extended maintenance at half of its 56 reactors reducing capacity as Europe faces an energy crunch.
To conserve water, France has implemented water-saving measures on almost all continents, including bans on hoses and irrigation in many places.
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