
AI-generated summary
Since Friday, six departments in the south of France were already on orange heat wave alert due to unprecedented temperatures for the month of September around the Mediterranean, in the South-West and the Alps.
The south of France is overheating. From midday, Saturday September 5, Vaucluse will join the six departments already placed on orange "heatwave" vigilance by Météo-France, bringing their number to seven. Already affected, since Friday, are Ardèche, Aude, Drôme, Gard, Hérault and the Pyrénées-Orientales.
In a press release, the agency then announced that it had already recorded "unprecedented temperatures for the month of September (...) around the Mediterranean", as well as in the South-West and in the Alps.
“This Saturday morning at 5 a.m., temperatures are particularly high in Roussillon and Aude, with nearly 30°C in Perpignan and 26°C in Narbonne,” wrote the forecaster in his morning bulletin. “This afternoon, the maximum temperatures will drop a few degrees in the South-West” compared to Friday, but “will remain very high in Languedoc and the Rhône valley with 36 to 38°C (locally 39 to 40°C in the interior of Languedoc).”
These heat conditions should continue throughout the day on Sunday, before a cooling expected from the West from Monday. In the northern half of the country, temperatures will remain below 35°C all weekend, specifies Météo-France.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
A refresh is expected from Monday coming from the West
Very likely · Within days
More than a hundred residents of a village in Aude were evacuated this Friday due to a virulent fire which devastated around a hundred hectares of vegetation in two hours near Puilaurens. The Cathar castle of Puilaurens, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, was also evacuated as a precaution. Two hundred firefighters supported by air assets were mobilized, and two firefighters were slightly injured.

A forest fire broke out this Friday, September 4, 2026 between Puilaurens and Axat in Aude, burning 120 hectares in a wooded area that is difficult to access. Nearly 300 firefighters are mobilized on the ground with 11 water bomber planes and helicopters. Two firefighters were slightly injured and around a hundred people were evacuated as a precaution. Puilaurens castle was also evacuated. The D117 road is closed and Aude remains on orange alert for forest fires at least until Monday.
A fire broke out on Friday around 4 p.m. in Puilaurens in Aude, devastating 100 hectares of vegetation in two hours. More than a hundred residents were evacuated, including 32 people from the hamlet of Lavagnac and the Cathar castle of Puilaurens as a precaution. Two hundred firefighters supported by aerial means are fighting the fire in difficult conditions linked to the heatwave and the accessibility of the terrain. Two firefighters were slightly injured.
Météo-France places seven departments on heatwave orange vigilance from Saturday noon, including Vaucluse and the Pyrénées-Orientales, due to hot air coming from the Iberian Peninsula. Temperatures reach 33 to 38°C in the south, with cooler nights in the South-West. The heatwave is expected to persist until at least Sunday in the southern half of the country.

The socialist senator from Aude Sébastien Pla is proposing a new penalty scale for throwing cigarette butts out of the car window, which could lead to up to a year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros in areas with a high risk of fire, after a survey showing that 17% of smokers admit to this gesture.

Romain Cugnon, a farmer in Oise, describes the financial losses due to drought and heatwaves, particularly on his gooseberry production and sheep breeding, and expresses his distrust of government announcements deemed insufficient.