Young and Old Are Dying Amid France Heat Wave

France's punishing heat isn't just breaking records—it's proving deadly in the water. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday that at least 40 people have drowned in the past five days, many of them teenagers swimming in unsupervised lakes and canals, per the New York Times. He called the deaths a "tragic scourge," while youth minister Marina Ferrari warned that taking a dip outside monitored areas during such weather is "no small matter."

More than half the country is now under a top-level red heat alert as a "heat dome" keeps temperatures soaring. Paris could near 104 degrees Fahrenheit, with central regions forecast to hit 109. "All the [temperature] records, locally or nationally, are being broken every day or night," Lecornu said. Authorities say the extreme heat, France's second major wave in a month, has caused other deaths as well, including three elderly people and two young children found in a parked car, per Reuters.