Published on

22/06/2026 - 22:10 GMT+2

This is unprecedented. France has been facing an exceptional heatwave for nearly a week. Météo-France has placed 54 départements on red alert for Tuesday 23 June, an alert that will affect around 39 million people.

On Monday, more than 450 heat records were broken or equalled across the country, making the day, with a national average temperature of 29.2 °C, the third hottest ever recorded. In the département of Cher, the temperature even climbed to 43.3 °C.

In Paris, the mercury could top 40 °C in the middle of the week. But the capital has already broken its temperature record for June, with 38.4 °C recorded on Monday.