Météo France has extended a red level heat warning - the highest level of alert - into Wednesday for 16 départements including Paris.
The red warning means a potential danger to life from the heat, and gives local authorities the power to shut down public events and take extra heatwave precautions including closing schools and modifying public transport services.
The 16 départements - including the whole of the greater Paris Île-de-France region - were placed on red alert on Tuesday, with Météo France extending the alert until the end of Wednesday.
Across the country, the government said it expected nearly 1,350 schools to be partially or completely shut -- nearly double the number on Monday -- with teachers complaining of overheated and unventilated classrooms making students unwell.
In Paris city authorities activated the pollution plan as air pollution levels spiked - only vehicles with a Crit'Air 1 or 2 rating are allowed on the roads, while lower speed limits were put in place on many roads in the greater Paris area.
Operators of the Eiffel Tower shut the summit of the 330-metre high landmark on Monday and said it would remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday "due to the current heatwave".
Access to the first and second floors remained open but operators still urged caution.
"Remember to protect yourself from the sun and stay hydrated. Water fountains are available in the walkways leading to the esplanade," they said.
Meanwhile in south-west France the Golfech nuclear reactor has been shut down because the River Garonne is too hot for its waters to be used to cool the reactor.
The 16 départements on red alert on Tuesday are; Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hauts-de-Seine, Val de Marne, Seine-et-Marne, Val d'Oise, Essonne, Yvelines, Aube, Yonne, Loiret, Cher, Loir-et-Cher, Indre, Indre-et-Loire and Vienne.
The rest of France, with the exception of the Channel coast, remains on orange alert.
The peak heatwave in the Paris area will be "very severe on Tuesday and the night of Tuesday to Wednesday" said Météo France, adding that temperature highs of up to 41C were to be expected in some of the areas designated with a red alert.
Paris saw a sweltering night on Monday with temperatures still at 30C by 3am.
Temperatures are expected to freshen up Wednesday evening around Paris, with hot weather persisting around the Mediterranean.
Over the weekend, wildfires broke out in the Corbieres area of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures topped 40C, forcing the evacuation of a campsite and abbey as a precaution.
The south of the country saw highs of more than 40C on Sunday, with temperatures between 35 and 38C across the region. Météo France reported 40.9C in the small town of Grospierres in southeastern France, 40.1C in the village of Vinsobres in the southeast, and 39.9C in the town of Cadenet, also in the southeast.
Also on Sunday the Mediterranean Sea hit its warmest temperature on record for June at 26.01C said a French weather service scientist, citing data from EU monitor Copernicus.
"We have never measured such a high daily temperature in June, averaged over the basin, as Sunday," said Thibault Guinaldo, a researcher at the Centre for Satellite Meteorology Studies under Météo-France.
At present, sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean are 3C higher than average for the same period compared to 1991-2020, with spikes exceeding 4C around the French and Spanish coasts, he added.
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Temperatures are expected to peak across France on Wednesday, before gradually dropping back to seasonal norms.
An interministerial crisis meeting on the heatwave was convened on Sunday evening to review all the guidelines, particularly concerning health, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told BFMTV.
Some cities have already closed schools for the beginning of the week, as a protective measure.
The heatwave spans southern Europe, from Italy to Portugal, where Lisbon and several regions are on red alert. In Spain, temperatures reached 46C on Saturday in El Granado.
The heatwave is driven by a heat dome -- a strong anticyclone that traps warm air and prevents cooler systems from entering.
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