Fourteen departments are under red alert on Tuesday and two-thirds of the country are under orange alert. Temperature records have been broken in southwest France.

A severe heatwave with temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius has pushed France into a state of high alert. The national weather service, Météo France, urged people across large parts of the country to exercise extreme caution on Tuesday.

Temperature records were broken at at least four weather stations in southern France on Monday as much of the country baked in a new summer heatwave and the government called for vigilance.All-time records were also broken at meteorological stations in Bergerac,