The prolonged heatwave, which began earlier this week, has disrupted the country, forcing the cancellation of dozens of trains, the suspension of classes and prompting the government to ban the consumption of alcohol during the annual Fete de la Musique festival.
On Sunday, Meteo-France extended the highest heatwave warning for 49 of France's départements, or administrative regions, for Monday.
This is up from the warning for 35 départements – roughly a third of the country – for Sunday.
A further 40 departments are on orange alert for Monday.
The number of departments on red alert represents a new record high, surpassing the previous peak of 20 recorded on July 24–25, 2019.
According to AFP estimates, more than 90 percent of France's population -- more than 63 million people -- will be affected by the heat on Monday.
"We are facing an episode that is particularly intense and unusually early," said Mathieu Lefevre, the minister for ecological transition, urging a "great deal of caution".
President Emmanuel Macron on X urged French people to "look out for others", especially the elderly, children and isolated or vulnerable people.
Weather service Meteo-France warned that temperatures could reach as high as 41C in some places on Sunday as France finds itself at the epicentre of a heat anomaly also affecting southern Britain, Spain and Portugal.
The forecaster said the heatwave could begin to ease on Friday, but said this was still unconfirmed. It expected temperatures to frequently reach 38 to 41C, possibly even higher, this coming week.
READ ALSO: What does a red level heatwave warning mean in France?
"It is likely that the heatwave will continue (or even worsen in some areas) for much of next week," it said earlier.
Paris is one of the regions on the red-alert list along with much of central and south-western France. You can consult Météo France's map here.
Despite the worsening heatwave, the annual Fete de la Musique celebrations, when musicians take over the streets with free performances and revellers party into the night, went ahead across much of the country on Sunday.
While some cities cancelled street events, celebrations in others — including Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg — were largely going ahead.
The Louvre museum in Paris, though, announced on Sunday that its planned free concert under its famous glass pyramid had been scrapped due to the heatwave.
To minimise health risks and prevent potential disturbances to public order, the government announced a ban on alcohol consumption during the festivities in departments under red alert.
"The combination of alcohol, heat and proximity to water — those are three risk factors that don't mix well," Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said late Friday.
"Prefects will issue decrees banning alcohol consumption in public spaces in the departments under red alert," the government said in a statement following a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
School closures
"For all events organised by the state and its agencies, instructions have been given not to offer alcohol," added Lecornu's office.
The government has called for limits on alcohol consumption "to preserve emergency and healthcare services and allow medical staff to focus on caring for the most vulnerable".
On Monday, 845 French schools were to be closed because of the heat, while another 1,800 have modified classroom hours to adapt to the weather.
To help Parisians and tourists cope with the heat, authorities are keeping parks and gardens in the French capital open through the night.
For advice on how to protect yourself and/or vulnerable people in the extreme heat, Meteo-France has set up a Heatwave Information Service hotline that you can access free by calling 0800 06 66 66.
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