At 16:00 on Monday, Météo-France extended its maximum ‘vigilance rouge’ heat warning to 54 of the country’s 96 mainland departments—an unprecedented scope for June. Temperatures already touched 39.8 °C in Le Mans, with night-time minima above 25 °C in parts of Île-de-France. The civil-protection ministry convened a crisis cell at Matignon to coordinate transport, health and labour-law measures. Airports activated their extreme-temperature protocols: Orly suspended platform-side baggage handling between 14:00 and 18:00, while Lyon-Saint-Exupéry issued a NOTAM advising carriers that runway asphalt temperatures could exceed manufacturer limits for certain regional jets. Air France offered free re-booking through 26 June for domestic and short-haul European sectors. Corporate travel departments are encouraging travellers to shift meetings online and to verify hotel air-conditioning standards, as smaller provincial properties struggle with power-grid brownouts. Heat also impacts immigration processing. Prefectures in red-alert zones have cut walk-in hours for visa extensions to mornings only; applicants with afternoon slots are automatically rescheduled. Employers sponsoring assignees should warn candidates of likely paperwork delays and consider 90-day visa-free stays as an interim solution. With meteorologists predicting at least two more days above 38 °C, duty-of-care teams are reminded to circulate hydration guidance and to log traveller whereabouts in real-time tracking tools. Analysts say the episode is a live stress-test for France’s 2024-2026 climate-resilience strategy for critical mobility infrastructure.
Source: Harian Basis
