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France has been experiencing an intense heatwave for much of this week, described as 鈥渆xceptional鈥� by M茅t茅o-France for how early in the year it has come.

Temperatures in parts of the country, particularly the south-west and west, have climbed to around 42C. Almost everywhere in France has experienced temperatures above 30C in the past week.

There are currently 14 departments on red heatwave alert and a further 56 on orange alert.

Read more: 14 departments now on red heatwave alert: when will the heat peak?

The heatwave is set to peak today (June 18) before storms arrive later this evening and tomorrow.

M茅t茅o-France states that temperatures will reach between 38 and 41C in Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes, Centre-Val-de-Loire, west Burgundy and Ile-de-France.

Certain places, particularly in Aquitaine in the south-west, could reach up to 42C.

鈥淭his could lead to all-time record-breaking temperatures,鈥� M茅t茅o-France states.

In total, 10 places have experienced record-high temperatures for June so far during this heatwave, while one place, Martys (Aude), matched its previous June high.

The record for minimum overnight temperatures was also beaten in two places.

The lowest temperature a weather station in Tarascon (Bouches-du-Rh么ne) recorded was 26.8C between Thursday and Friday, beating the previous minimum temperature of 25.7C in 2019.

In Arles (Bouches-du-Rh么ne), the minimum temperature recorded during the same night was 23.9C, beating the previous record of 23.8 from 2008.

M茅t茅o-France also highlighted other places where the temperatures were notably high without breaking records:

• Villevieille (Gard): 41.8C
• Soumont (H茅rault): 41.6C
• Saint-Jean-de-Minervois (H茅rault): 41.5C
• Prades-le-Lez (H茅rault): 41.4C
• L茅zignan-Corbi猫res (Aude): 41.1C

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