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Heatwave plan kicks off as unseasonal rain soaks France

France’s annual heatwave-watch plan kicks in on Saturday, as flood warnings are issued in the south-west and most of the country is soaked by unseasonal rainfall. Food prices are set to rise as crops are lost to waterlogging.

Rain stops play at the Roland Garros tennis tournament
Rain stops play at the Roland Garros tennis tournament Reuters
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French residents suffering the coldest spring since 1987 may be surprised to hear that emergency services will be ready to intervene in a for-now strictly hypothetical heatwave as from Saturday.

The heatwave plan has started automatically on 1 June every year since 2004, following a deadly summer that saw 15,000 deaths due to extreme heat in 2003.

Forecasters are divided on how long the current rainfall and low temperatures will last and whether summer will prove as damp as last year’s.

But they did predict enough rain to lead to flooding in the south-west on Friday, especially in or near the Pyrenees mountains.

Heavy rain continued in the east, too, with downfalls in Lorraine, Alsace and the Alps.

Farmers have suffered badly from winter weather in spring, according to the FNSEA farmers’ union.

“Some have started selling their animals,” FNSEA vice-president Joël Limouzin said on Thursday. “They can’t count any more on meadows irreparably ruined by excessive water and when there is hay it will be of very poor quality.”

Crops of new potatoes and onions have already been lost, he added, and waterlogging of fields has made it impossible to set a date for cereals harvests.

The farmers’ problems will soon become those of shoppers as prices are likely to rise.

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