Two children were found dead in a car in France on Monday as the country experienced the hottest day yet in its latest heatwave, with temperatures forecast to reach 43C. The two victims, aged two and four, were found dead in their family's car in a residential parking lot in the southeastern town of Carpentras, where temperatures had been forecast to reach a maximum of 39C. "The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heatwave is the leading line of inquiry," said local prosecutor Helene Mourges. France for the first time issued its highest heat warning across half the country for Monday, with forecasters warning the extreme weather episode could end up being as serious as a 2003 heatwave that claimed the lives of nearly 15,000 people nationwide. The children are just the latest casualties to have been reported during the heatwave.
More than 800 schools out of the country's 60,000 have closed. © Philippe Lopez, AFP
Three elderly people died in their homes as a result of the heat in southwestern France on Sunday, according to local authorities. And 13 people drowned across the country at the weekend, a civil defence official said, urging against unsupervised swimming to cool off. Temperatures had been set to rise to a maximum of 43C (109F) in the southwestern city of Bordeaux and 39C in Paris on Monday afternoon, weather service Meteo-France said. Overnight temperatures of 25.3C in Bordeaux and 24.2C in the capital broke records for the month of June, it said. Several cities including Tours and Poitiers in western France experienced their hottest night on record, topping 24C. More than 1,350 of the country's 60,000 schools closed on Monday, while another 4,042 adjusted their teaching hours, the education ministry said, updating a previous tally. Read moreNew timetables, longer holidays: How can French schools adapt to heatwaves? Other schools have suggested that parents keep their children at home or pick them up at lunchtime.
