If the current spell of scorching temperatures feels endless, that is because it nearly is. The heat wave gripping France has now become the second longest ever recorded in the country, national weather service Météo-France announced on Wednesday, August 19. With a definitive national thermal indicator of 24.5°C for Tuesday, August 18, the country has experienced 22 consecutive days of heat wave conditions, a provisional second-place ranking since measurements began in 1947.
This event has already surpassed the duration of the July 2006 heat wave, which lasted 21 days, and has long eclipsed the infamous 2003 episode. The all-time record remains the summer of 1983, when France sweltered for 23 days straight.
More Than 50 Days of Heat Waves in 2026
Since Tuesday, no French department has been under an orange heatwave alert, following its lifting in six southeastern departments. However, the current heat wave, which began on July 28 and featured two intensity peaks on July 29 and again from August 12 to 14, is not yet over. Météo-France draws a clear distinction between a heatwave alert and a heat wave itself.
A heat wave officially begins when the national thermal indicator reaches or exceeds 25.3°C for a day and the national average temperature stays at or above 23.4°C for at least three consecutive days. It ends only when the indicator drops below 23.4°C for three days in a row, or briefly falls under 22.4°C. This differs from yellow, orange, or red heatwave alerts, which are based on expected weather intensity and potential health impacts.
In terms of pure intensity—how high maximum temperatures climbed—the late June 2026 heat wave remains the strongest ever recorded in France. But when measuring severity, which combines both duration and intensity, August 2003 still holds the record.
A Summer of Unprecedented Heat
Another staggering figure underscores the exceptional nature of this summer: mainland France has now experienced 52 days of heat waves since mid-June, a record even before the season has ended. That far exceeds the 33 days recorded in 2022 and the 22 days of the deadly summer of 2003, according to an AFP analysis of Météo-France data. Since June 17, only brief respites of three and then eight days have interrupted the relentless heat.
