Central France and the greater Paris region have been under a rare red level heatwave alert - signifying a danger to life - as soaring temperatures gripped Europe.
However the French forecaster Météo France expects the heatwave to peak on Wednesday, lifting weather warnings for some parts of the country.
Just four départements - Aube, Cher, Loiret and Yonne - remain on red alert on Wednesday, while the Paris region drops back down to an orange level alert.
Warnings have been lifted from the west and south-west of France, with the heat gradually moving off to the east.
By Thursday temperatures are expected to have dropped back to seasonal norms, with alerts lifted across the whole of northern France.
Environment minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said that at least two deaths have been linked to extreme temperatures in recent days, while 300 people have received emergency treatment for heat-related health problems.
Full figures on excess deaths will not be available until later in the summer.
Tuesday saw extremely high temperatures across the country - 41.3C in Nîmes, 39.3C inToulouse, 40C in Le Vigeant, Vienne and 41.2C in Châteaumeillant, Cher - although none of the records set in the 2019 heatwave were toppled.
Paris saw a sizzling night with temperatures still at 36C by 10pm.
Across the country schools closed and local authorities activated emergency heatwave plans.
The Golfe nuclear reactor in south-west France was shut down because the neighbouring River Garonne was too hot to cool the reactor - it is not expected to start up again until Sunday - while two other nuclear reactors reduced their capacity because of the heat.
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