Toulouse. Here are the hottest places in the agglomeration when it is over 30°

Sunday June 13, 2021, it was 33.4° in Toulouse, the hottest day since the start of the year.

Temperatures still far from the heat wave recorded in June 2019 in the Pink City.

At the time, the thermometer had risen to 40° and above all, with the reflection of the heat on the mineral soil of the city, these temperatures had a hard time dropping at night.

To a lesser extent, the same causes are producing the same effects in recent days in Toulouse and its agglomeration. But depending on whether you live in Beaupuy and Mons or in the city center of Toulouse, the effect of heat is very different, as explained by the Urban Planning and Development Agency Toulouse metropolitan area (AUAT).

The phenomenon of heat islands

Already, the rise in temperatures in Toulouse is exacerbated by the heat island effect.

4 to 6° difference between highly impacted urban areas and the countryside

Overall, according to the readings, under favorable conditions for the formation of a nocturnal heat island, "Toulouse presents a nocturnal IUC which reaches 4° on average, which can go up to 6°". Clearly, it is the difference in temperature that can be observed, on certain nights, in Toulouse, compared to the surrounding countryside.

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The hottest areas in Toulouse

Several studies have been undertaken on heat islands in the agglomeration. The global heat island is centered on the municipality of Toulouse and can lengthen during the day depending on the direction of the wind. The feeling of high temperature is increased by a phenomenon of overheating on the ground which varies according to the urban forms. In the conurbation, the hottest part of Toulouse is that of the suburbs, where the streets are wider and the buildings smaller, leading to more sunshine in the street during the day and less cooling at night. Commercial areas are also subject to significant levels of stress, detailed the AUAT in the spring of 2021.

On the map released in 2021 by the AUAT and which Actu Toulouse shares today, we can logically observe that the strongest exposure to heat islands is located in the city center but also in the suburban districts of the city. right bank.

Here is the map of exposure to heat islands in the Toulouse conurbation

Areas of large surfaces impacted

The climate atlas of the Toulouse conurbation, produced in 2020, specified the situation in Toulouse:

Differences within neighborhoods

A more detailed analysis of the Toulouse neighborhoods also shows “that there are also differences within the same neighborhoods of Toulouse depending on the developments”, assures the AUAT.

As shown in the map below, the temperature differences can be significant, almost 7°, depending on whether you are near a green space or in a completely concrete area with heavy traffic.

Where is the hottest town by town?

In May 2020, the Toulouse Urban Planning and Development Agency had already published a document entitled "Climate Atlas on the perimeter of Toulouse Métropole".

By simulating a local climate on the basis of known meteorological situations in the Toulouse conurbation and the characteristics of the buildings in the districts (80 morphological indicators were calculated, on the scale of a building, a set of contiguous buildings or an urban island), Météo France, the Interdisciplinary Solidarity, Societies, Territories Laboratory (LISST), the AUAT and Toulouse Métropole had produced climate maps of the agglomeration.

Commune by commune, these maps made it possible to better visualize which places in the conurbation are hottest at night.

In particular, we could observe that suburban suburban towns, such as Aucamville, were very affected by the phenomenon.

To find all the town maps by town, please click on the following link:

>> MAPS. Toulouse: Commune by commune, here are the places where it is the hottest in the agglomeration <<

Levers to be used to improve the situation

To reduce the phenomenon of heat islands, the AUAT recommends activating several levers: "vegetate by increasing the share of trees, work on the place of water in the city for its cooling capacities, work on the orientation of the roads to preserve natural ventilation corridors or recreate them, work on the height, the distance of the buildings to create a balance between the shadow cast and the sunshine and finally work on urban materials, and their color, to limit the accumulation of heat and therefore their release during the night.

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