France Is In for a Brutally Hot Week

Europe is sweltering through a dangerous heatwave, and France—which lacks widespread air-conditioning—is taking some of the hardest hits. Reuters reports temps in the southwestern Bordeaux area are expected to top 108°F on Monday. Nearly 2,700 schools will be closed or see altered schedules, and 49 of the country's 96 regions have been put on the highest heat alert, reports the BBC. "We're heading for ... several days of very, very hot weather," France's health minister warned, and "we don't know when temperatures will start falling." Indeed, the AP reports national weather service Meteo France said the "plateau" of persistent heat-wave conditions wouldn't start to let up until Friday at the earliest.

Three weekend deaths of elderly Bordeaux residents have been attributed to the heat, and the AFP reports 13 drownings were reported as people tried to cool off in rivers and lakes. National railway operator SNCF asked that "vulnerable" people cancel their train travel this week. In Paris, where temps could hit 102, a number of train lines curtailed their Monday services, citing the heat.