France heatwave alerts covered around half the country, including Paris, on Monday as temperatures moved toward historic highs. Temperatures in Bordeaux reached 40C on Sunday, and Météo-France said the heat would peak on Monday.
The red alert reached much of western and central France, while many other regions were placed under orange alert. Météo-France estimated the heatwave affected about three quarters of the population, a scale that already had disruption in trains and classes.
Paris and the Fête de la Musique
Authorities kept parks and gardens in Paris open through the night, and French authorities banned alcohol consumption in public places during the annual Fête de la Musique. Sébastien Lecornu said: "For all events organised by the state and its agencies, instructions have been given not to offer alcohol," and the government said the alcohol limits aimed "to preserve emergency and healthcare services and allow medical staff to focus on caring for the most vulnerable".
The festival has been held for more than 40 years and is always held on the summer solstice. Last year about two million people attended events in Paris.
Sahara desert heat over Europe
Hot air moving north from the Sahara desert was driving the rising temperatures, trapping heat over western and central Europe. Italy issued red alerts for eight cities on Sunday, including Bologna, Florence, Milan and Turin, while Spain's weather agency issued red and orange alerts in several regions and warned of temperatures hitting 40 degrees across large parts of the country.
In the UK, the UK Health Security Agency issued one amber heat-health alert for the South East.
Météo-France uncertainty
The heatwave had been building for days, and French authorities had already seen disruption to government services, dozens of train cancellations and suspended classes. Météo-France described how long the heat would last as "uncertain", leaving the red alert timeline open even as temperatures pushed close to historic highs.
For people in France, the immediate question is how long the red alert stays in force for Paris and the rest of the affected regions, because the warning covers a huge share of the country and the response is already shifting daily routines, transport and public events.
