Europe heatwave: Blistering temperatures to smash France AGAIN as 'four die during heat'

Meteo France has forecast another heatwave to hit the country in early August. Temperatures are set to exceed 30C from this Sunday. A total of 14 departments across France have been put on a red heatwave alert.

An orange alert has been issued for another 56 departments.

Jean-Yves Choplin, a forecaster at Météo France said: "We are expecting high temperatures again from Sunday [July 31], for at least four days."

He added: "From Sunday onwards, temperatures are expected to approach 30C in the northern half of the country and to exceed 32-33C in the southern half."

From then, temperatures are expected to rise by 1 to 2C each day until Wednesday, Mr Choplin said.

At this point, temperatures are set to reach "over 30C" in the north and as high as 35C in the south.

The last heatwave lasted 13 days, from July 12 to July 25.

Several temperature records were broken, making it the third most intense heatwave in France's history.

It was also the fifth longest heatwave ever seen by the country.

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Several wildfires broke out in the country during the two-week spell, such as in the forests of La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras in Gironde.

Meanwhile, four people died at work over the last two weeks in France, "possibly linked to the heat", French health authorities announced yesterday.

In a statement, Santé publique France agency said that, from July 12 to 25, "four deaths occurred during an orange or red heatwave alert".

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) on Monday called for the introduction of a law that would set a maximum workplace temperature in Europe.

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The ETUC said: "Two workers died of heatstroke in Spain last week.

"In France, a country that does not cap temperatures at work, 12 people died from heat-related accidents at work in 2020."

The heatwave impacted most of the country, with 96 percent of the population experiencing at least one day on an orange alert.

A total of 16.5 percent of the population experienced at least one day on a red alert.

It followed another unusually early heatwave that hit France in June.

Mr Choplin said that having several heatwaves in a single summer is a phenomenon only seen since 2010.

He added: "The intensity of them is also more and more preponderant."

Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.