PARIS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- France is experiencing an intense heatwave, with temperatures expected to remain exceptionally high until at least Thursday and potentially exceed the country's national average temperature record for the month of June, Meteo-France said on Monday.
Meteo-France placed 49 French departments under a red alert and another 40 under an orange alert on Monday. The agency said the heatwave is expected to spread further on Tuesday, with 54 departments under red alert and 35 others under orange alert.
The national average temperature reached 29.2 degrees Celsius at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday, according to Meteo-France. The agency said the national average could surpass the record of 29.4 degrees Celsius for June and could reach 30 degrees Celsius by midweek.
French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Monday that 1,352 schools and middle schools were closed due to the heatwave, while 4,042 others had introduced special arrangements to cope with the extreme temperatures.
Meanwhile, BFM TV reported that at least 13 people drowned over the weekend, citing a civil security source.
