France warned to brace for another 40C heatwave

Temperatures in France are set to soar once again next week, with forecasters warning that the mercury will hit 40C in some areas - less than three weeks after record temperatures were recorded in many parts of the country.

The southeast will be particularly affected, Météo France said as it issued a heatwave warning from Monday, with overnight temperatures in parts of the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur not expected to fall below 25C.

On Tuesday, the mercury should rise to about 35C across much of the country, except in northwestern areas and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, which are forecast to be noticeably cooler.

Thermometers are expected to again nudge 40C in parts of the country on the first days of the week, before temperatures start to go slowly down from Wednesday - though forecasters said that they would not dip below 30C.

"The duration of this episode and its geographical extent remain to be monitored at this time," said Météo-France in a statement.

During the last heatwave in June, a temperature of 45.9C was recorded in Gallargues-le-Montueux on June 28, the first time the mercury has passed 45C in France since records began, while Nîmes endured temperatures of 37C or more for 10 consecutive days - and Carpentras, in the Vaucluse, recorded 36C or higher for 15 days straight - beating the previous record of 13 days.

A heatwave is classed as three consecutive days of consistently high temperatures throughout the day and night, with particular temperatures varying depending on the region.

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