As a heatwave pushes

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June 21, 2026

France has banned alcohol at some events at massive national music festival as a heatwave pushes temperatures towards record levels.

The annual Fête de la Musique celebrations draw millions to the streets but with the most serious heatwave warnings being issued for 35 of France’s departments, the government has banned alcohol consumption in public places under the red alerts.

Good plan. The hotter it is, the worse idea it is to gulp down the gin.

Temperatures have been forecast to peak on Monday, and authorities have warned they could match historic highs.

The government has called for limits on alcohol consumption “to preserve emergency and healthcare services and allow medical staff to focus on caring for the most vulnerable”.

The heatwave has been going for days and has disrupted the country, forcing the cancellation of dozens of trains and the suspension of classes.

We were warned.

Tragedy of the commons much?

Comments

One response to “As a heatwave pushes”

Athel Cornish-Bowden

Jun 21, 2026 2:13 PM

At this moment (10.50 in the evening) we are being bombarded with noise from La Fête de la Musique, which is about 50 m from where we live. With any luck it will finish at 12.00, or at most at 12.30. It has been cancelled by reason of the heat in many places, but not here. I’m not sure that even the alcohol ban is in force here. It is warm, but not unbearable — fairly typical for Marseilles. When much of France is collapsing from the heat we usually just have normal summer weather (maximum 29.8° today). It’s similar in winter: when everyone else is complaining how unbearably cold it is we hardly ever go below about 5°, thus no freezing.

What I find difficult to understand is why Bordeaux usually gets it much worse than we do (and has it at this moment). One might think that they would get more protection from the Atlantic than we get from the Mediterranean, but it doesn’t seem to work like that.

Of course, in Seattle you escape most of the worst aspects of North American weather. No freezing, no unbearable heat, no 100% humidity, no tornadoes, no hurricanes. (I’ve not been to Seattle, unless you count the airport, but I’ve spent a little time in Vancouver and Victoria.) Now tell me I’m wrong!

As a heatwave pushes

Comments

One response to “As a heatwave pushes”