Thankfully it has now cooled down, and maximum temperatures have returned to only 3°C above average, rather than the 11°C above average of a week ago. It has even been cooling down overnight, allowing us to open some windows. This morning it it 20°C inside the house, a relief, as yesterday the temperature had built to over 25°C indoors.
Thankfully also the fires have subsided. The fire near Bordeaux is under control having burnt out 42,000 hectares, and now there are only 582 pompiers (firefighters) on the mopping up exercise. A week ago the France wide situation looked like this:
...and the situation near Bordeaux was this:
▪️ Resources deployed:
3,300 firefighters;24 aircraft;1,500 military personnel supporting operations;1,400 members of the internal security forces, including the deployment of 10 Centaure vehicles from the gendarmerie to prevent burglaries in evacuated areas.
▪️ Casualty figures:230 firefighters have been injured since the start of this crisis. No new serious injuries have been reported this evening.
▪️ Preliminary property damage assessment: 240 homes are still listed as destroyed. This figure may change as field assessments continue.
(From https://feuxdeforet.fr/en/gironde-33/saumos-22-07-2026-4367/)
When the fire was at it's worse the clouds over Preuilly-sur-Claise were a dirty red colour, and the air absolutely stank. So much so that we had to keep all the windows firmly closed. This meant we didn't lose heat overnight.
Anyway. We shouldn't complain. The pessimist in me says that this is the coolest summer for the rest of our lives. We should make the most of it.
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