Following a devastating heatwave in 2003 that killed 15,000, France has adopted four alert levels to help people cope with extreme temperatures
Helen Massy-Beresford is a British journalist and editor who lives in Paris
Over the weekend, as evening fell on the hilly (and, crucially, shady) Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, one of Paris’s most popular green spaces, the joyfully chaotic Fête de la musique, a summer solstice celebration of music in all its forms, got under way, with competing DJs starting their sets in nearby cafes.
It was stiflingly hot and picnickers were cooling down with water, juice or alcohol-free beer, or at least, they should have been. The Paris authorities banned the consumption of alcohol in public spaces (apart from cafe terraces) during the festival, just one of the measures they can put in place to keep citizens safe once the city reaches vigilance rouge canicule, red heatwave alert.
Helen Massy-Beresford is a British journalist and editor who lives in Paris
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