40 people drown in France amid scorching temperatures

At least 40 people have drowned in France over the last five days as the country endured a scorching heat wave, Sébastien Lecornu, the country’s prime minister, said at an emergency cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Most of the drowning victims were young, many of them teenagers, and swimming in unsupervised areas. Lecornu called the drownings a “tragic scourge.”

Marina Ferrari, a minister whose responsibilities include young people, said in an interview on French radio Tuesday that the drownings were mostly in bodies of water such as lakes or canals.

“During heat waves like this,” she said, “it’s no small matter to go swimming in areas that aren’t supervised.”

France is in the middle of an intense heat wave over much of Europe that began in the middle of last week. Forecasters have said that Paris could hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit this week, not far from its record. Parts of central France could see highs of around 109 degrees F.

More than half of the country is under a red alert for heat wave conditions, the most severe. France’s weather agency, Météo-France, said it expected “exceptionally high temperatures, both day and night.” The temperatures have the potential to have a “strong health impact.”

“All the records, locally or nationally, are being broken every day or night when it comes to temperatures,” Lecornu said.

From Monday to Tuesday, France recorded its hottest night since measurements began in 1947, Météo-France said. An average of readings from 30 stations across France reached almost 71 degrees F, according to preliminary figures.

The current heat wave in Europe is the result of a heat dome, a strong area of high pressure that allows heat to build over a region.

According to Météo-France these stubborn, high-pressure systems can block or divert passing weather fronts, leading to conditions with few clouds and little rainfall.

For France, this is the second heat wave in about a month, after record-breaking temperatures in May.

The high temperatures have also caused other fatalities over the last few days. BFMTV, a French news station, reported the deaths of two children, ages 2 and 4, who were left inside a car on Monday.

In Paris on Tuesday, dozens of people sought relief from the heat, swimming in the canal Saint-Martin to avoid their hot apartments.

Martina Russo, 28, said she was not very worried about the risk of drowning. She said she was more worried about the quality of water. “It would be nice to have someone say, ‘We’ve tested it, and there are no health risks,’” she said.

This article originally appeared in the New York Times.