French heatwave could COLLAPSE damaged Notre Dame roof, chief architect fears

Soaring temperatures could see the fire-ravaged roof of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral collapse entirely, France’s chief architect of historical sites has warned.

Three months after Notre Dame was gutted by a fire, the cathedral’s chief architect, Philippe Villeneuve, has warned of a new threat to the iconic landmark: record hot weather.

“I am very worried about the heatwave,” Villeneuve told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

What I fear is that the joints or the masonry, as they dry, lose their cohesion and their structural qualities, and that all of a sudden, the vault gives way...

Much of the cathedral’s stone walls are still waterlogged since firefighters extinguished the April blaze. Though sensors placed throughout the structure have not yet detected any movement, Villeneuve worries that the cathedral’s vaulted ceiling “could very well” collapse as hot weather accelerates the drying process.

Temperatures in Paris reached a scorching 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, and are projected to peak at 42 Celsius (108F) on Thursday, before receding to more typical numbers. Forty-two degrees would be a record-breaking high for the French capital, with the previous record figure of 40.4 Celsius recorded in 1947.

Much of Europe is currently experiencing a heatwave, with Belgium and the Netherlands both recording their highest ever temperatures on Wednesday. A similar weather event last month resulted in the hottest June on record in Europe.

Notre Dame remains clad in scaffolding and its roof covered in tarpaulin. More than 100 workers have been clearing the cathedral of debris and reinforcing the structure every day since the fire was extinguished. The tragic blaze prompted an international outpouring of grief, and French President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild the 850-year-old cathedral within five years.

Macron’s goal has been criticized by some as overly ambitious, with Villeneuve himself stating earlier this month that “we are not at all in the restoration [phase]. We are still in the urgent securing of the cathedral.”

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