Seventy-eight departments, including Rhône, Hauts-de-Seine, Calvados and Finistère, are on orange heatwave alert. Weeks of drought have led the authorities to impose successive restrictions on water use.

Forecasters on Monday extended orange heatwave alerts to 22 départements in central and south-eastern France, up from 13 on Sunday as the fifth ‘canicule’ of the summer extends…

Nearly 70 percent of France is now under water-use restrictions as successive heatwaves and severe drought intensify pressure on the country’s water supplies. Authorities said…