The mother of two young boys who were found dead in a car during a heatwave in France forgot about her children while she was shopping, it has been claimed. The ⁠spike in temperatures is being driven by a mass of hot air moving north from the Sahara, fuelled by a strong high‑pressure ​system known as the 'African anticyclone.'Meteorologists say the system is creating a so‑called 'heat dome,' trapping hot air over western and central Europe and ​allowing temperatures to build day after day.The brothers, aged just four and two, were found unresponsive by their mother on Monday afternoon in the French town of Carpentras in a car parked outside their grandmother's house. They suffered cardiac arrest as temperatures reached a sweltering 40C, and while services were called to the scene, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Initial information released by the prosecutor's office suggested the children had 'allegedly locked themselves' inside the vehicle. However, it has now emerged that the boys' mother claimed to have 'forgotten her children' while shopping, French daily Le Parisien said, citing a police source. An investigation into manslaughter has been launched, according to the public prosecutor's office. The children's bodies have been transferred to the forensic institute in Nîmes for an autopsy, which will take place on Wednesday. France is being hit by a heatwave, with much of the western and central regions of the nation blasting past 40C on Monday. Some 40 people have tragically drowned while seeking reprieve from the heat since June 18, according to Sebastien Lecornu, the country's prime minister.He will hold a crisis meeting today to discuss the extreme weather bringing the country to its knees. The government's emergency response cell warned people not to try to cool off in unsupervised areas such as lakes and rivers after the weekend's drowning deaths at the weekend, which included a 13-year-old girl. Pictured: The entrance of a residential pavillion where two children were found dead in their family vehicle amid a heatwave, in Carpentras, sourthern France, on June 22, 2026