In pictures: Parisians try to keep cool in summer heat wave (39C)

http://www.france24.com/en/20150701-france-pictures-heat-wave-paris

Thermostats soared across France on Wednesday as the country was hit by a monster heat wave, with temperatures rising as high as 39 Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit) in the capital Paris.

In pictures: Parisians try to keep cool in summer heat wave
Text by Rachel HOLMAN
Latest update : 2015-07-02

Canicule, heat wave, dog days... whatever you want to call it, it’s hot outside.

As the mercury rose across France on Wednesday, the country’s main weather service, Météo France, put 47 regions on Orange Alert, the second highest warning level.

Paris city officials introduced a number of special measures, including phoning the elderly and others considered vulnerable to the severe weather as well as opening air-conditioned rooms to the public.

Authorities warned that temperatures could surpass those during France’s devastating heat wave in 2003, which broke record highs across the country. It was the hottest summer France had seen in 150 years and one of the deadliest, claiming the lives of over 14,800 people, the vast majority of whom were over the age of 75.