Another canicule 🙄

[manonthemoon2]

Did we actually get out of one?

We're on a yellow alert and today has been hotter than the last couple.

I'm fed up with sweating, wet hair, wet neck and wet back almost everytime I move. The minutes after a shower I'm damp again.

I've never known it this bad, perhaps it's just an age thing.

Anyway back to the canicule

[MAD87]

It's been pretty constant here for 2 months, with occasional breezy days but hardly any rain. In the "old" days when the pressure built up, we'd have a storm to bring relief.

[Blaze]

I've never known it this bad, perhaps it's just an age thing

As far as we are concerned, our heat tolerance has definitely gone down as we've got older. It doesn't help that we're physically active !
Whilst the temperatures here suit us perfectly and rarely go above the low 30s, the lack of rain is really making itself felt, as in much of France.

[Hotrodder]

Even in the soggy northwest there's been no rain for ages. The extra work involved carrying watering cans to the important plants is a daily and very tiring chore. On the plus side, the drought is somehow reducing the number of mole hills I have to rake over every day.

[Quiksilver]

Isn't the semi-official definition of canicule a minimum of 30°C during several days and a minimum of 20°C at night? So the night temps have been keeping us under the threshold. They're certainly keeping the pool at a 'refreshing' 22°C! That's my life-saver, being able to jump in the pool several times a day, unwind with a few lengths, then back to watering and weeding

[p4psb]

Canicule, vague de chaleur - defined here: https://www.sudouest.fr/environnement/m ... 842724.php

[Sparkle]

@manonthemoon2 oooh I agree with everything you've said. I now think ahead of what might need doing during the day even down to opening a tin of sardines and washing salad then shoving it all in the fridge. I start at 6am and then have a 20 minutes slooooow walk before I even think of having a shower then for most of the rest of the day I just lollop around. How can you save water when one gets through so many clothes?

[Lori]

We've never had a break from the canicule. Night temps never below 26 and mostly at 28 (in the house). We had one day with a tiny bit of showers a week or so ago, but nothing of any real help. I can't remember when it last properly rained.

I don't recall ever reaching the Level 3 Crise on water restrictions. In our more than 20 years of being down here, I don't think we've ever reached Level 3. It is really serious. And, no end in sight.

We have been getting very creative in our use of water - as much as we can.

I fully expect water use to be cut off for use only between certain hours - if we do not get some rain. They have already cut off the ASA Spring water the village homes (including us) have.

[Blaze]

It seems that Brittany has very variable rainfall, depending on where you live. We are in the red zone ...

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[Bayleaf]

I've rinsed out a couple of plastic containers -garden trugs I guess, and half-filled them with water in front of an outside bench. As and when I feel the need, I sit on the bench and cool my feet and lower legs off for a while. No luxury of a pool around here, and the river is just a little too far to be of benefit (and it's currently very low), as the refreshing feeling would have worn off by the time you've walked back to the house. It's amazing how refreshing just having your feet in a bucket of water for a while can be!

Otherwise, it's jobs very early in the morning, and just spreading out doing stuff with regular breaks and sitting in the coolest room with a good book every so often. Clients are happy to wait until heat subsides for me to get back to work - just don't get paid for staying home though.